Fernando Torres scored a brace to give Spain a 4-0 win over Republic of Ireland and eliminate the Irish form Euro 2012 with a game to spare.
The Chelsea hitman was back in the starting line-up after being benched for the Italy game at the weekend, where coach Vicente del Bosque had controversially opted to play without any recognised strikers.
And Torres wasted no time in proving a point to his manager by firing home the opening goal after just four minutes in Gdańsk to give the reigning champions a perfect start.
Spain doubled the lead four minutes into the second period as Shay Given's attempt to keep out Andrés Iniesta's shot dropped to the feet of David Silva, who coolly passed the ball through the legs of Richard Dunne into the corner.
Torres grabbed his second of the night with 20 minutes remaining when he once again ran clear of a static defence to fire expertly past Given and finally kill off hopes of a fightback.
Substitute Cesc Fàbregas heaped on the misery for the Irish in the 82nd minute after drifting into the area from the right and firing a shot off the inside of the far post.
Spain now head into the last match on Sunday against Croatia in pole position to qualify from Group C while Ireland take on Italy with the aim to generate some pride in their last match of Euro 2012.
Lineups:
Spain: Iker Casillas; Álvaro Arbeloa, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba; Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso (Javi Martínez, 65); David Silva, Fernando Torres (Cesc Fàbregas, 74), Andrés Iniesta (Santi Cazorla, 80)
Ireland: Shay Given; John O'Shea, Sean St Ledger, Richard Dunne, Stephen Ward; Damien Duff (James McClean, 76), Glenn Whelan (Paul Green, 80), Keith Andrews, Aiden McGeady; Simon Cox (Jonathan Walters, 46), Robbie Keane
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| Spain striker Fernando Torres celebrates after scoring his second goal against Republic of Ireland Photo: Getty Images |
The Chelsea hitman was back in the starting line-up after being benched for the Italy game at the weekend, where coach Vicente del Bosque had controversially opted to play without any recognised strikers.
And Torres wasted no time in proving a point to his manager by firing home the opening goal after just four minutes in Gdańsk to give the reigning champions a perfect start.
Spain doubled the lead four minutes into the second period as Shay Given's attempt to keep out Andrés Iniesta's shot dropped to the feet of David Silva, who coolly passed the ball through the legs of Richard Dunne into the corner.
Torres grabbed his second of the night with 20 minutes remaining when he once again ran clear of a static defence to fire expertly past Given and finally kill off hopes of a fightback.
Substitute Cesc Fàbregas heaped on the misery for the Irish in the 82nd minute after drifting into the area from the right and firing a shot off the inside of the far post.
Spain now head into the last match on Sunday against Croatia in pole position to qualify from Group C while Ireland take on Italy with the aim to generate some pride in their last match of Euro 2012.
Lineups:
Spain: Iker Casillas; Álvaro Arbeloa, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba; Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso (Javi Martínez, 65); David Silva, Fernando Torres (Cesc Fàbregas, 74), Andrés Iniesta (Santi Cazorla, 80)
Ireland: Shay Given; John O'Shea, Sean St Ledger, Richard Dunne, Stephen Ward; Damien Duff (James McClean, 76), Glenn Whelan (Paul Green, 80), Keith Andrews, Aiden McGeady; Simon Cox (Jonathan Walters, 46), Robbie Keane
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