Euro 2012 Final: as it happened

Full Time: Spain 4-0 Italy

Spain are Euro 2012 Champions!

90th minute: Three minutes of added time to the second half.

87th min: GOAL! It's four nil. Mata scores!

84th min: GOAL! Fernando Torres makes it 3-0. The Spaniard striker makes it look so simple. Claudio Marchisio loses the ball in midfield, and Xavi's decisive pass leaves Torres to slide it past Buffon.

So ten minutes and a bit before the world champions defend their Euro title and make it three majors in a row.

79th min: Spain literally toying with the 10-men Italy now. Some ridiculous passing there in front of Buffon who heaves a sigh of relief as the linesman raises his flag for offside.

74th min: Pedro and Fabregas combined nicely to find Spain's third goal but the Italian defenders alert to the danger. Meanwhile Fernando Torres makes his way in to replace Cesc Fabregas.

70th min: Italy were chasing the game with eleven men, and they are now lagging way behind with ten. Spain firmly behind the driving wheel now.

68th min: Closing in on 70 minutes, Pedro makes a menacing run from Buffon's right but his cross finds an Italian foot that clears the dangerous ball.

Spain trying to slow the game down by spraying the ball around and making Italy run for possession.

63rd min: Italy down to 10 men for the last 27 minutes, with Motta out and Prandelli having made his all three substitutions.

60th min: Thiago Motta is being stretchered out of the park. His hamstring acting up.

Thirty minutes left for Italy to restore parity. But it looks like slipping away from the Italians.

59th min: Spain have taken off David Silva, scorer of their first goal. Pedro Rodriguez replaces him.

Di Natale has added another spring to this Italian team. Can he do some magic combining with Pirlo?

52nd min: The Italians have come out all guns blazing. Di Natale is in the thick again but denied by Casillas again and Balotelli fails to latch onto the rebound.

50th min: Cesc Fabregas almost made it three nil there. Dribbles past three defenders but Italy clear it away after a goal-mouth melee.

46th min: We're away in the second half, with Italy to do all the chasing down two goals to nil. Italy have brought in their most experience striker Di Natale, who makes his presence felt straight away.

Half-time score: Spain 2-0 Italy

45th min: One minute of injury time added to the first half.

41st min: GOAL! Jordi Alba makes it 2-0 for Spain. Back-breaking pace from Alba, scintillating first touch and a clinical finish.

38th min: Just seven minutes left to the half-time whistle. And Italy, it must be said, have shown great resolve amid Spain's domination.

Since the 30-minute mark, Italy have had 53% of possession. Pendulum swinging?

33rd min: Good last five minutes for Italy. Some pressure built up by the Azzurri, who almost equalised there through Cassano but his stinging drive could not beat Casillas who again punches the danger away. The Spanish Armada holds on to its 1-0 lead.

Half an hour played in this final and David Silva's goal is still the difference.

29th min: Nice play there by the Italians but Cassano's shot through a crowd of Spanish defenders proves quite weak to beat Casillas.

24th min: Gerard Pique has been yellow-carded for a nasty challenge.

21st min: Chiellini gets injured and is immediately replaced by Balzaretti.

18th min: Italy answer back with a free-kick in an advantageous position but the shot is deflected for a corner that Casillas is able to punch out of harm's way.

14th min: GOAL! Silva puts Spain ahead. The striker from Manchester City heads Spain 1-0 in front. Iniesta cut in from the right, sending a through ball to Cesc Fabregas who cut back a cross that allowed David Silva to head in from close range.

Spain looking more in the groove, even as Italy try to feed Balotelli hovering over the Spanish goal.

10th min: Xavi almost nailed it there, from dead centre of the goal, inches over the crossbar. Italians had hearts in their mouth.

8th min: Nervous last couple of minutes for the Italians, with Spain pressing and calling all the shots.

Carles Puyol and David Villa watching eagerly from the stands.

6th min: Free kick for Spain as Xavi is brought down, 30-yard from the Italian goal. But Ramos hits it well over the crossbar.

5th min: Andrea Pirlo has the first shot of the final, but it's well wide. And Spain almost had Iniesta in place for a shot on their first move.

1st min: We're off!

BUILD-UP:

0015 IST: Anthems over, onto the business end now. Pedro Proeca from Portugal is be the referee.

0010 IST: Tension is quite evident on the faces of two skippers, Buffon and Casillas, as they lead their men past the trophy and onto the green to line up for the national anthems.

0005 IST: We're minutes away from what could be a historic European Championships' final, as the players get ready to move out of the tunnel.

0002 IST: And here goes the Italy playing XI: Gianluigi Buffon, Ignazio Abate, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini, Claudio Marchisio, Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, Riccardo Montolivo, Antonio Cassano, Mario Balotelli.

2355 IST: And we have the Spain starting XI: 1-Iker Casillas; 17-Alvaro Arbeloa, 15-Sergio Ramos, 3-Gerard Pique, 18-Jordi Alba; 16-Sergio Busquets, 14-Xabi Alonso, 8-Xavi; 6-Andres Iniesta, 21-David Silva, 10-Cesc Fabregas

2345 IST: As we build-up to the kick-off, dig in to the game's preview or give a read to know who Buffon wants to win Euro for. And if you happen to be a Spain fan, take a look at their three-forwards plan.

The 2011 European Championships have reached its finale and it's Spain's chance to create history by winning three consecutive major titles, while a Mario Balotelli-inspired Italy try to road-block the world champions.