Spain saved their best until last. Tim Tebow Jersey Patriots . It was incredible to witness the performance they produced in the final at UEFA EURO 2012 to beat Italy 4-0. When it really mattered, the best team on the planet stepped up a gear. Up until Sundays final, there had still been questions surrounding Spains team. Did they have a Plan B? Could they cope without their leading scorer David Villa? They answered in resounding fashion. Earlier in the tournament against Croatia and Portugal, Spain had struggled to find a breakthrough and looked as though they lacked a cutting edge. Against Italy though, they took their performance to a higher level and thoroughly deserved to become the first team to win back to back European Championships. Vincente Del Bosque went with an unconventional formation for much of the tournament playing without a recognized central striker and reaped the rewards for his tactical decisions. He now stands alone as the only manager to win the World Cup, European Championship and UEFA Champions League. Against Italy, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez were superb. Cesc Fabregas played his position to perfection with his movement, allowing other players more space to operate in. The way the fullbacks push forward leaves space for other teams to try and exploit at the back, but when Spain attacks at such pace from all directions, they are difficult to deal with. Spains passing was exemplary throughout the tournament, but the build-up to the first two goals in Sundays final really showed them at their best. The fact fullback Jordi Alba was the furthest man forward to get onto a perfect through ball and score Spains second goal summed up their play. Spains attacking game is always in the limelight, but defensively they were rock solid throughout the tournament, conceding just one goal. An even bigger achievement considering they did it without the injured Carlos Puyol. Its not just the pretty things they do well. In the post-game show, my broadcast partner Jason de Vos highlighted one example of the fantastic work-rate of Sergio Ramos. The Spain defender ran up the pitch as part of his teams attack, but when they lost the ball, rushed back to get the block in to break up the Italians counter. It was a complete performance from Spain. In full stride, they are wonderful to watch. Theres little doubt they are the best team of our generation. Did Prandelli Get It Wrong? Italy coach Cesare Prandelli talked after the match about how much the "defeat hurts," but said he thinks his team had an "excellent tournament." Its hard to disagree with his assessment of the Italians campaign at EURO 2012. The final 4-0 score was harsh on Italy, but on the day, they were just outplayed across the pitch by an exceptional team. Italy exceeded expectations, and for most of the time, they looked good. Their performance against Germany in the semi-final was second only to Spains display in the final. Heading into the tournament, very few people would have predicted Italy would make it to the final and even at the semi-final stage, they were massive underdogs against Germany. When they are in full flow, Prandellis Italy are a joy to watch. They showed themselves to be solid defensively while entertaining going forward. Andrea Pirlo was outstanding and the partnership between Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano proved to be lethal on the international stage. However, for all the credit Prandelli deserves for the track he has put this team on, he may be second guessing a couple of his decisions regarding Sundays final. Italys cause was hindered by having to play the final 30 minutes with 10 men after Thiago Motta was forced off with an injury just a few minutes after coming on. Knowing his team had injury concerns with a couple of players, was it too big a risk to use all three substitutes so early in the match? The main question surrounds Prandellis formation for the final. It seemed an easy decision to make. After their dominance against Germany, the Italian coach stuck with the same system that produced the stunning performance. I would have done the same. However, on reflection, Prandelli might be wondering if it would have been better to put a greater emphasis on closing Spain down. In their opening game of the group stage, Italy used a 3-5-2 formation and did a fantastic job of containing Spain. It was the highest quality game of the group stage and Italy looked every bit as good as the defending champions. Throughout the tournament, Spain had difficulty breaking down teams that had set out to deny them space around the edge of the penalty area. Had Italy set up with a more defensive game plan, it likely would have been a tighter match, but it says a lot about Prandellis approach to the game and his belief in his players that he wanted to try and have his team get on the front foot and dictate the game from the opening whistle. Of course, the early goal for Spain didnt help matters. Despite the outcome in the final, Italy leave the tournament with their heads held high. The players are clearly galvanized as a group and enjoy performing for Prandelli. The Azzuris future looks bright. My Team of the Tournament: Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas Defenders:Theodore Gebre SelassieMatt HummelsSergio RamosJordi Alba Midfielders:Xavi HernandezAndres IniestaAndrea PirloCesc FabregasCristiano Ronaldo Forwards:Mario Balotelli My Goal of the Tournament:1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – v France2. Mario Balotelli – 2nd goal v Germany Tebow Patriots Jersey .C. -- Michael Jordans Bobcats are the NBAs most surprising team so far this season. Tim Tebow Patriots Jersey Blue . -- High-scoring Steven Stamkos is not alone when it comes to Tampa Bays offensive attack. http://www.timtebowpatriotsjersey.co... . Off-Season Game Plan looks at a Kings team that isnt going away. They have their core under contract and have cap room to either re-sign their own free agents or add more talent from external sources. [url=http://www.timtebowpatriotsjersey.com/]Tim Tebow Patriots Jersey Pink . Its a sign of just how much has changed for Hinchcliffe in a very short period of time. He wasnt even in IndyCar two years ago, when he was a guest commentator for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway radio team during the race. Tim Tebow Patriots Jersey Red . However, the Tour ends just six days before the Olympic road race. The effort involved in competing at the top level in the Tour de France may prove too exhausting to consider also riding at the Olympics.SAN FRANCISCO - Kirk Gibson asked Ian Kennedy if he could keep going, and Arizonas ace delivered with a career-high 122 pitches. Good timing, too. Closer JJ Putz had slept wrong and arrived with a stiff neck, which he tried to loosen up in the fourth inning to no avail. Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning to help Kennedy snap a five-start losing streak, and the Diamondbacks avoided a three-game sweep with a 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. Kennedy (4-5) outdueled Tim Lincecum (2-6) in a matchup of struggling aces to win for the first time in seven starts since beating the Braves on April 22. "Its been a while since Ive been standing in that line with the high-fives at the end of the game," said Kennedy, who made a minor tweak to his delivery to get more on top of the ball. "To beat someone like the Giants or like Tim throwing tonight, it means a lot." Goldschmidt crushed a 1-0 slider into the left field bleachers for his fourth home run of the year, 12th of his career and fourth off Lincecum in 13 at-bats — most by any opponent against the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner. Goldschmidt also added an RBI single in the eighth for an insurance run and Ryan Roberts also singled in a run. Lincecum insists he will adjust next time against Goldschmidt. "Im not hoping. Im going to figure it out," he said. Melky Cabrera singled in the eighth to finish his marvelous May with 51 hits, matching Randy Winns San Francisco record for most hits in a month set in September 2005. The last player in baseball with 50 or more hits in a month was Carl Crawford, with 50 for Tampa Bay in August 2007. Cabrera smiled as he received a standing ovation from those still left in the sellout crowd of 41,328. Lincecum lost his third straight outing and his winless stretch reached six straight starts since the right-hander beat San Diego on April 28. He went 0-4 in May for his first month without a victory since a career-worst five-start losing streak in August 2010. Lincecum bounced back that year to become the winning pitcher in the Game 5 World Series clincher at Texas. This time, the Giants didnt give him enough support with more missed chances. San Francisco had its three-game winning streak snapped as Arizona ended a four-game skid in the rivalry. Kennedy extended his winning streak against the Giants to five straight starts, and the D-backs are 6-0 in his last six outings versus San Francisco. A 21-game winner last season, Kennedy had been 9-0 over his previous 12 starts before this recent funk. He struck out seven and walked two in 7 2-3 innings to beat Lincecum for the third straight time. Kennedy gave up one run on five hits and has allowed just four runs in 21 1-3 innings in those three games facing Lincecum. David Hernandez rrecorded the final four outs for his first save in four opportunities in place of Putz. Tim Tebow Patriots Jersey White. The Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead in the second on right fielder Gregor Blancos fielding error. He caught Roberts fly, then bobbled the ball and dropped it while trying to move it into his throwing hand in order to fire to home and prevent a sacrifice fly. Miguel Montero held up but wound up scoring on the misplay. San Francisco tied it in the fourth on Ryan Theriots RBI single following a leadoff triple by Blanco. Lincecum lasted six innings for just the second time in his last six starts, but matched his season high with five walks to go with six strikeouts. He allowed two runs — one earned — on four hits in seven innings. "It was big on a personal level because I havent been going deep into games. I still took the L," Lincecum said. "Outside of the walks, I thought it was better altogether. The crucial inning was the home run. Thats the one pitch Im thinkng about." Gibson caught Goldschmidt closing his eyes to visualize before the at-bat. "I said, go out there, live it up and show me what youre visualizing," Gibson said. "Boom!" The Giants, who dropped the first four meetings of the year with the defending division champion D-backs, have failed to record a series sweep in four chances this season. Angel Pagan extended his home hitting streak to 24 games with a leadoff single in the seventh. NOTES: Kennedy has allowed three or fewer runs in 11 of his 12 starts vs. San Francisco. ... Giants RHP reliever Sergio Romo wasnt available because of an unstable or "subluxed" right kneecap. He was injured doing his pregame warmup routine Monday. ... Arizona LF Jason Kubel returned to Phoenix on Wednesday morning just in time — 10 minutes before his wife, Blake, delivered their second child. Heidi Evelyn, 7 pounds, 7 ounces, joins big brother, Owen. Gibson expects him to rejoin the team Friday at San Diego after a short stint on the paternity list. OF A.J. Pollock was recalled from Triple-A Reno to replace him. ... San Francisco 3B Pablo Sandoval said he expects team doctors to examine his surgically repaired left hand Thursday or Friday, and believes he could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Monday if all goes well. The switch-hitter is still not swinging right-handed. ... D-backs SS Stephen Drew, working back from a broken right ankle hurt last July, is scheduled to play back-to-back games at extended spring training Friday and Saturday and if all goes well he will report to Reno early next week to begin a rehab assignment. ... Arizona RHP Takashi Saito, who is on the 15-day DL with a strained right calf, threw live batting practice and is scheduled to pitch again Saturday before joining Reno on June 5. ' ' '