Morata wins Golden Boot in Spanish clean sweep

Striker Álvaro Morata led a Spain one-two-three in the adidas Golden Boot award rankings after finishing as top scorer at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals in Israel.

Morata's team-mate Thiago Alcántara did his best to catch the competition's leading marksman – whose total of four goals came before tonight's final in Jerusalem – with the FC Barcelona midfielder hitting a first-half hat-trick as Spain defeated Italy 4-2 to claim the title for a fourth time.

That put Thiago on three goals in the race for the Golden Boot, with Isco completing a Spanish clean sweep after converting a second-half penalty to knock the Netherlands' Leroy Fer into fourth spot. The award goes to 20-year-old Morata, though, with three of the Real Madrid CF forward's four goals coming as a substitute.

Morata was thrilled to have finished as the top scorer in a tournament where he started three of the five matches on the bench. "Yes, it isn't easy, especially when you're coming off the bench, but I got the luck," he acknowledged. "I'm delighted to win this tournament and the Golden Boot and I want to thank all my team-mates as it wouldn't be possible without them."

2013 Under-21 finals top scorers
Golden Boot: Álvaro Morata, Spain – 4 goals, 1 assist
Silver Boot: Thiago Alcántara – 3 goals, 1 assist
Bronze Boot: Isco, Spain – 3 goals

Leroy Fer, Netherlands – 2 goals, 1 assist
Manolo Gabbiadini, Italy – 2 goals
Sebastian Rudy, Germany – 2 goals
Georginio Wijnaldum, Netherlands – 2 goals
Fabio Borini, Italy – 2 goals

Assists and then minutes played (with the player boasting the better goals to minutes on the pitch ratio taking precedence) were used to separate players with the same goal tallies.

Previous top scorers*
2011: Adrián López, Spain – 5
2009: Marcus Berg, Sweden – 7
2007: Maceo Rigters, Netherlands – 4
2006: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Netherlands – 4
2004: Alberto Gilardino, Italy – 4
2002: Massimo Maccarone, Italy – 3
2000: Andrea Pirlo, Italy – 3

* Current format

2013 competition top scorers (including qualifying)
12 – Rodrigo (Spain)
9 – Jan Chramosta (Czech Republic), Isco (Spain)
8 – Manolo Gabbiadini (Italy), Peniel Mlapa (Germany), Jordan Rhodes (Scotland), Genero Zeefuik (Netherlands)
7 – Fedor Smolov (Russia)
6 – Álvaro Vázquez (Spain), Nemanja Bilbija (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Craig Dawson (England), Milan Djurić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lewis Holtby (Germany), Mikael Ishak (Sweden), Armando Sadiku (Albania)