Spain 4 - 0 Ukraine

The Spanish players ran their Ukrainian counterparts ragged with some beautifully controlled passing and finished them off with some devastating finishing.

Spain started the brighter of the two teams and looked well-marshalled at the back as two early Ukrainian attacks were stopped for offside.

The Spanish looked threatening and confident going forward and won a corner after Marcos Senna hit a ferocious shot that the Ukrainian keeper did well to tip over for a corner.

But Spain took the lead in the 13th minute when a corner was whipped into the six-yard-box and Xabi Alonso got in ahead of his marker.

Spain then doubled their lead four minutes later when David Villa whipped a direct free-kick past the helpless Olexandr Shovkovskiy.

There was an element of luck to this goal though as the keeper looked to be going the right way until the ball flicked off the head of a Ukrainian defender and into the net.

Even so, Spain were well worth their two-goal lead and Luis Garcia and Fernanado Torres were looking particularly threatening up front.

But Ukraine held on to keep the score at just 2-0 going into the half-time break.

Ukrainian manager Oleg Blokhin made a double substitution at the start of the second half but any hopes that the fresh legs could bring the Ukrainians back into the game diminished two minutes later when Vladyslav Vaschuk was sent off for a foul on Torres in the penalty area.

There looked to be minimal contact but the referee decided that it was enough to put Torres off his stride and a penalty was awarded and the defender was sent for an early bath.

Villa stepped up and smashed the spot kick low in to the bottom left-hand corner of the net for his second of the match.

Ukraine were now visibly drained and Spain nearly made it four a few minutes later when Villa was set free in the area after good work from Luis Garcia. But the Valencia hit-man could not claim his hat-trick as he snatched at his shot and scuffed it straight at the keeper.

Spain continued to press for another goal and Ukraine could not keep up with their superior passing and movement.

Even when Ukraine did get the ball upfield, Andriy Shevchenko was disappointing and the introduction of Serhiy Rebrov did not add any bite to their attack.

Spain eventually made it 4-0 in the 81st minute with the move of the match.

Carlos Puyol picked the ball up on the halfway line and continued his charge towards the area as he laid the ball off to Marcos Senna. The ball was then knocked back to Puyol who cushioned a header into the path of the onrushing Torres who smashed a volley past the beleaguered Shovkoviskiy.

It was a comprehensive win for the Spanish in terms of both scoreline and performance and, on this evidence, it may just be their year.

But how often have you heard that?