Sometimes, not always, the victors on penalties are the better team. Spain can claim that their shoot-out triumph over the world champions was deserved, not only because they scored four spot-kicks to two, but also because of their general domination of play during the preceding 120 minutes.

Rearguard victory
Italy defended supremely well. What many Azzurri fans were calling a makeshift back four gave Spain's vaunted two-man strike force of David Villa and Fernando Torres very little time and space in which to weave their magic. The occasional jinking run aside, the two forwards were repeatedly ensnared, with every slight miscontrol seized upon voraciously by one or sometimes two or even three white shirts. Torres's second-half substitution was a little victory for the Italian rearguard.

Sterile encounter
Roberto Donadoni, the Italy coach, countered the loss of chief playmaker Andrea Pirlo through suspension by packing his midfield with players of industry and endeavour. The plan, it seemed, was to cut the supply to the front two at source. Indeed, the tone for a match of relative sterility was set in the opening minutes when the Azzurri parked everyone defiantly in their own half and invited Spain to come on to them in the hope that one loose pass might lead to a counterattacking opportunity.

Low-risk policy
Spain had as much as 70 per cent of the ball for the first dozen minutes, but were in no hurry to try anything fancy and cede possession unnecessarily. Indeed, Marcos Senna, La Roja's midfield linchpin, ended the first half with the perfect statistic of 100 per cent pass completion. By the end of the two hours that figure had been cut to 91 per cent, but while the Brazilian-born anchorman was undoubtedly one of the best players on show, his extraordinarily high percentage rating was indicative of the low-risk policy adopted by both teams.

Disappointing ratio
Senna fired in four shots, all from distance, getting two on target, one of which forced Gianluigi Buffon into a rare fumble, spilling it against the post. The Villarreal CF midfielder's success ratio was considerably above average for both his side and the game in general, with Spain having 26 attempts on goal but only working Buffon six times. Italy, less willing to shoot on sight, disappointingly managed just three on target from 12 efforts.

Incontestable win
Spain also had the edge in terms of overall possession (57 per cent to 43) and corners won (eight to three). Most importantly of all, though, they put the ball in the net twice as many times as their opponents during the penalty shoot-out, with Iker Casillas also proving twice as successful as his Italian counterpart, in terms of spot-kick saves. Italy might bemoan their misfortune but, as the statistics show, Spain's victory was incontestable.