Spain in the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland, scoring three goals. In 2006, he became an under-21 international and scored four goals during the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship; this was enough to earn him joint-fourth place in the goal ranking, alongside Italian striker Graziano Pellè. Silva made his senior international debut in the 1–0 friendly home defeat to Romania on 15 November 2006, and continued to receive call-ups to the side after good contributions in his first games. On 22 August 2007, he scored his first two goals for Spain, netting twice in a 3–2 friendly win versus Greece, and was then called up to the squad of 23 for UEFA Euro 2008. UEFA Euro 2008 Silva started five of Spain's six matches at Euro 2008. In Spain's second group stage match against Sweden in Innsbruck, he assisted Fernando Torres with a pinpoint cross from the edge of the box, with the Liverpool forward scoring the opener in an eventual 2–1 win. In the semi-finals game versus Russia, Silva scored the third goal for Spain after a quick counter-attack in which Cesc Fàbregas delivered a low cross, and he sent the ball into Igor Akinfeev's goal with his left foot. In the final, he was involved in an incident with Germany's Lukas Podolski. After he pulled Podolski to the ground, the German approached Silva, which resulted in an angry exchange of words and a coming together of heads that the referee decided not to punish. Shortly afterward, Spanish coach Luis Aragonés substituted Silva for Santi Cazorla in an attempt to calm the tensions. 2010 FIFA World Cup After appearing regularly during 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – Spain won all ten fixtures – Silva was also picked for the squad for the finals in South Africa. His participation was, however, a small one. He started the opening group game for La Furia Roja, against Switzerland in Durban, but despite some bright sparks, the European champions succumbed to a 1–0 defeat. Silva next appeared for Spain in the semi-final against Germany, replacing Pedro for the final nine minutes. Spain won 1–0, courtesy of a header from Carles Puyol, and went on to win the tournament, beating the Netherlands in the final. UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying On 11 August 2010, during an international friendly with Mexico, Silva scored two minutes into second-half injury time, ending the game with a