Euro 2012: Spain vs. Italy sets record for tweets per second

Sunday’s Spain vs. Italy match for the UEFA Euro 2012 championship set a new sports-related Twitter record.

According to the social networking site, total global traffic peaked at 15,358 tweets per second when Juan Mata scored the final goal of the match in the 88th minute Spain’s 4-0 rout of Italy.

Many of the tweeters marveled at the fact that Mata had just come in off the bench to score on his first shot of the tournament:

“GOAL! Juan Mata scores having been on the pitch for a matter of seconds. He’s only played a few seconds in the whole tournament. 4-0.” -- offthepost.info;

“Part of Spain’s claim to all-time greatness? The great players who never see the pitch. Exhibit A: Juan Mata. 4-0, Spain.” -- Josh Elliott, news anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America” and former co-anchor of ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

Twitter registered a total of 16.5 million tweets worldwide during the match -- and they kept coming after Spain’s repeat championship.

Mata himself tweeted after the game: “Campeooooooooooooooneeeeeeeeeeesssss!!! Championsssssssss!!”

Mata’s Chelsea teammate, David Luiz of Brazil, wrote: “Congrats for my friends @juanmata10 and Torres,You deserve it! Im very happy! Winners the Euro 2012! Big hug geezers.”

Even soccer legend Pele got in on the action, tweeting: “Congratulations to Spain for winning the #Euro2012. Now looking forward to #WorldCup2014 in Brazil!”