David Villa was the star of the show in Innsbruck, earning himself the man of the match award with a hat-trick, before Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas wrapped up the scoring in injury-time after Russia had pulled a goal back through Roman Pavluchenko.

That victory gave Spain the perfect start to their bid for a first European Championship title since 1964, but Aragones knows it was not all one-way traffic.

"The 4-1 win seems easy but it was definitely not, because our opponents are in good physical shape and it was certainly tough," he said.

Villa scored the opening goal of the game in the 20th minute but Spain almost saw their lead disappear immediately when Konstatin Zyryanov struck the post for Russia.

Pavluchenko also hit the Spain crossbar with a dipping 25-yard effort later in the half, although it would not have counted as referee Konrad Plautz had spotted a foul by the Spartak Moscow man.

Spain rode their luck at times, but then took a stranglehold on the match when Villa scored his second just before half-time.

"We opened the scoring but we were fortunate when they could have drawn level," said Aragones, who felt Villa's second was key.

"We faced a difficult team that was in excellent physical shape, but after going 2-0 we started playing with greater ease, we dominated the pitch and continued scoring."

While Villa took all the plaudits, Spain's star striker Fernando Torres was replaced in the 54th minute by Fabregas.

Much is expected of Torres in this tournament and although the Liverpool striker failed to find the back of the net, Aragones was full of praise for the former Atletico Madrid man.

When asked if an injury was the reason for Torres' early substitution, Aragones said: "There was no injury whatsoever. Torres has had a long tough season, he will be a very important player for us.

"But at that point we needed more strength in the centre of midfield. He was a very important player in helping Villa score the first goal and he made it tough for our opponents."

Russia coach Guus Hiddink, who masterminded a victory over Spain in the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals when in charge of South Korea, felt his side contributed to their own downfall.

Hiddink admitted in the build-up to the match that many of the players were lacking in experience in big tournaments, and the Dutchman felt that showed today, calling his team "naive".

However, he also felt the 4-1 scoreline flattered Spain somewhat, saying: "If you just look at the result without seeing the game, you would think that Spain had it all and Russia did not have any chances.

"They scored at key times, we made a stupid error for their first and then it is a lack of experience to let in the second goal just before half-time.

"We were rather naive in some situations. We were given a lesson in counter-attacking."