Liverpool fans should be proud of Fernando Torres’s goalscoring performance yesterday, but they may not be pleased. The last thing the club need is for a giant continental side to turn his head, as is happening with Cristiano Ronaldo. But Torres is so good, it’s a danger.

He’s got youth, pace, movement, an eye for a goal and, perhaps most impressively, bravery. Torres is not afraid of the physical side of the game. This is one foreign player who came to the Barclays Premier League and relished the tough nature of British football.

That was the one advantage Germany had over Spain yesterday – man for man, they were bigger and stronger. However, the Germans were not ambitious enough early on. Until the goal forced them out of their shell, it looked as though it would be a tight game because Germany had made containment their top priority.

Only in the second half did they follow the formula that had got them to the final – going direct, getting the ball forward quickly and fizzing it into the danger zone. But there wasn’t enough of this “ugly” football, which was Germany’s best hope. A team that struggled to overcome Turkey reserves was never going to outplay Spain.

Joachim Löw’s side were worried about the passing game of Spain’s midfield – rightly, as it was the best in the tournament. Spain are blessed with brilliant young talent, not to mention the continuity that comes from keeping a coach over the long-term and the absence of tension between the Real Madrid and Barcelona players that seems to have affected the mood in previous squads.

So Germany packed the middle third. That meant Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski, two attacking threats, hanging back, and it left Miroslav Klose isolated. Klose found it hard to have an impact, especially since the Germany midfield was not as good as their opponents’ at either feeding the lone striker or making clever forward runs to support him.

Spain’s win was the right result on the night and for the game in general: it is not often that the best team wins an international tournament, after all.