La Roja's 4-0 victory in Kiev made them the first team to win three successive major international tournaments.

Spain were at their scintillating best as goals from David Silva, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres - who became the first player to score in two Euros finals - and Juan Mata helped them overpower the Italians by the biggest winning margin in a Euros final.

Spain were criticised for being "boring" at Euro 2012 but the newly crowned champions produced some of their best football of the tournament to beat Italy and Xavi was once again at the team's fulcrum.

Before the final, the 32-year-old Barcelona midfielder admitted he would have liked to have been "more decisive" in key matches of the tournament, and he produced an emphatic display by setting up two goals.

The pass that sent Jordi Alba clear for Spain's second dissected the Italian defence during a first half where Spain passed the ball with a tempo that was far superior to their previous games at Euro 2012.

It showed that despite recent reservations about Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque's decision to play with no recognised strikers, this team with so many stars such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas, can now be claimed to be the best ever.