Spain won the Henri Delaunay Trophy in Vienna last night with a goal from Fernando Torres – and immediately jumped the queue to become favourites to win the 2010 World Cup.

It’s a tired old cliché – and Casillas and Co. may beg to differ after securing Spain’s first silverware for 44 years – but football was the real winner in the Ernst-Happel-Stadion last night, much as it has been for the last month. After Greece’s fairytale feat (playing fairly stale football) four years ago, it was refreshing to watch a truly talented side winning the tournament.

It was especially pleasing for most neutral onlookers not only because of Spain’s traditional tournament torment but also because Germany had reached this stage with few standout performances and, arguably, only one real world-class player (and how his team-mates must have fretted when it appeared he would miss the game).

Ballack’s Germany began the final with most of the possession and, for a while, a few doubters may have started to fear that Spain’s pitiful record was set to continue. However any apprehension was short-lived. For the next 80 minutes it was one-way red traffic, even without the prolific David Villa up front.

Villa’s erstwhile strike-partner, Fernando Torres seemed to revel in the lone role he often occupies for his club – and who wouldn’t, when you’ve got Fabregas, Xavi, Silva and Iniesta supplying the ammunition. The Liverpool hit man fired a warning shot in the 22nd minute when he rose to plant a header onto Lehmann’s right-hand post and four minutes later he was back to deliver what turned out to be the tournament-winning goal.

After a perfectly weighted through ball from Xavi, Torres outpaced Lahm, even affording to take a heavy touch before rounding the left-back, and then lofted a sumptuous chip over the advancing Lehmann. The ball found the far corner of the net as the striker wheeled away to celebrate.

In reality this could have been a cricket score. Germany’s only chance fell to Ballack but his scuffed volley skidded wide of Casillas’ goal. Spain meanwhile could have taken the lead as early as the 13th minute when Lehmann’s instincts were all that prevented Christoph Metzelder scoring a freak own-goal after a teasing Iniesta cross. David Silva then missed a good opportunity on the volley and Ramos and Senna also went close in the second half.

German teams of old would have made the Spaniards pay for their profligacy – but not this one. Despite the introduction of Kuranyi and Gomez, they hardly threatened in the final third and Spain were allowed to play out a victory that, in truth, was rather more comfortable than the score line suggested.

So Spain are the new champions of Europe and, with a young team and the talents of Torres, Villa and Fabregas, who’s to say they won’t take it one further in South Africa in 2010?