Vicente del Bosque spoke of a “great era for Spanish football” after his side retained the Henri Delaunay Cup with an emphatic win (4-0) on Sunday night, against a tired Italy team whose luck was out. Vicente del Bosque became the first coach to complete the hat-trick of UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship on Sunday but he refused to linger on personal achievements.“This is a great era for Spanish football,” said Del Bosque, according to uefa.com. He paid tribute to his players after an “extraordinary” performance but also praised opponents Italy, a side he said had everything but luck. Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach: “This is a great generation of players. They have roots and know how to play because they come from a country that knows how to. We have a great bunch of lads, some playing abroad – they never used to. This is a great era for Spanish football. After Vienna [and the UEFA EURO 2008 final] Luis Aragones, the then coach, showed us the way, the direction to go. But there are challenges ahead with World Cup qualification,and then the Confederations Cup where, representing Europe, we want to do well. We had an extraordinary match but don’t underestimate Italy – they just had no luck. Everything went our way tonight”. Italy had one fewer player, one less day of rest and they tried throughout but couldn’t get into the game. We played our own game and were faithful to what we’ve done over the years. I have spoken to the King [Juan Carlos] and his son and they told us they will see us tomorrow. This is a great time for all the Spanish people”.Cesare Prandelli, Italy coach told uefa.com: “I think we’ve had a terrific European Championship and our only regret is that we didn’t have a few more days to rest before this game. We played against Spain in the group stage and I thought we were excellent then – because we were 100% fit. Against a team like Spain you need to be at your best, going into tackles, and tonight we simply weren’t. You have to pay credit to Spain. They have made history tonight and deservedly so. They may not play with a recognised striker but they still cause a hell of a lot of problems.Gianluigi Buffon, Italy captain said in his turn: “It’s ended badly because we faced a great team who deserved to win. Sometimes in life you need to be able to accept defeat and compliment opponents who were better. They have a lot of players who are accustomed to playing certain types of games, important games like the final of a European Championship. I think at the start we paid for this because we were not the same Italy as we have been. We have nothing to complain about. Spain were the better team and we congratulate them”.
