Spain edges out England in dramatic final

Spain won Euro 2024 convincingly, winning all of their seven matches. XINHUA/VNA Photo

Anh Đức

BERLIN The summer’s biggest question that was trending all over social media was ‘English or Spanish?’ Coincidentally, fate made it an arena between those two nations for the final of the European Championship.

Spain answered the question with a great display of football that dominated from start to finish, on the day that England played like they got something in their nose.

Nico Williams opened the score in the 47th minute. Although substitute Cole Palmer equalised in the latter part of the second half, Mikel Oyarzabal lengthened the Three Lions’ wait for an international trophy to 60 years with a decisive strike four minutes from regulation time.

Both teams had their best players in the line-up, with Dani Carvajal returning from suspension for Luis de la Fuente’s side while Gareth Southgate opted to start newly-recovered Luke Shaw, unlike the last three knockout matches where he started from the bench.

La Furia Roja, who many pundits perceived as the best team in the tournament, dominated from the get go, at times holding onto more than 70 per cent of possession. The team in red however, found it hard to penetrate the English defence in the first half, with both Shaw and Kyle Walker working hard to neutralise Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal.

Up front however, Harry Kane was also invisible in the English attack, with only one touch in the opposition box. England’s biggest chance came late in the first half, with a volley from Phil Foden saved by Unai Simon at close range.

Spain unfortunately had their key midfielder Rodri injured and was subbed off at half-time. The fans of the men in red were concerned, but De la Fuente’s men quelled those fears just two minutes after the restart.

Yamal was again instrumental in his plays, danced past Shaw to find Williams with acres of space being left behind by Bukayo Saka and Walker. With only Jordan Pickford to beat, Williams fired a powerful shot into the lower right corner and made it 1-0 to Spain.

Had it not been for Pickford, England could have had their night and hope ended soon. A shell-shocked England defence was vulnerable against quick transitions from Spain and the Everton keeper faced at least four direct shots on goal.

With minutes left, Southgate again looked to Palmer in the bench to find the spark he needed. The Chelsea midfielder, who changed the game in the last three matches for England again delivered, with a powerful strike from outside the box to equalise for the Three Lions.

England fans in the Olympiastadion hoped that the script of a comeback would be written for the fourth time, but the football gods were cruel and did not even let Southgate’s team to make it to extra time.

In the 86th minute, in a similar fashion where England’s positional play was horrendous, Marc Cucurella was left with such a wide space, and delivered a pinpoint cross to Oyarzabal, who tapped in past Pickford.

The men in white pushed on and had a golden opportunity to equalise from a header by Marc Guehi in the fourth minute of added time. However, Dani Olmo was at the right place and the right time to clear the ball off the line, in a situation where Germans might feel that karma has done its job after 58 years.

This victory confirmed Spain’s place as the undisputed title as the kings of European football, with four Henri Delaunay trophies to their name, one more than Germany in second place.

Luis de la Fuente also became the first coach to win an UEFA U19, U21, Nations League and a Euro in his career.

The Spaniards also swept in the individual awards, with Rodri winning the Tournament’s Best Player award, and Yamal winning the Tournament’s Best Young Player award. VNS