In short, justice has been served. Because that’s the easiest way to describe what happened in 90 minutes of football at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, where Spain beat England 2:1 (0:0) in the EURO 2024 final.
They arrived in Germany with a suitcase full of victories, nothing less than that in the tournament, and they only needed this one to officially crown what was already known, that they play the most beautiful football in Europe.
Attractive, modern, direct, just to the taste and measure of all football lovers. In fact, Spain played the opposite of what the last rival represented. That’s why he can rightfully write the fourth row when it comes to European championships. The Spaniards demonstrated a magnificent talent, team play with excellent coaching. In the end, they ended up where they belong at this moment.
Luis de la Fuente’s men played by far the best football in the tournament. Although it was not the same in the first half, which was not even played. The second completely opposite and ultimately to the taste of all neutral football fans. Nico Williams gave Spain the lead, then Cole Palmer gave England hope, and Mikel Garaizabal helped the outcome. Let it be the way at least sports justice dictates.
It was played slowly and cautiously from the moment the ball rolled on the grass of the Olympic Stadium, thanks primarily to the English. Gareth Southgate’s men obviously took to the field with the intention of killing the will to play the opponent, which has actually graced them since the beginning of the tournament. The Red Fury had significantly more possession of the ball, over 80 percent, and the Spaniards easily held the strings in their hands. What they couldn’t possibly do was to be dangerous in the last 30 meters. There, the English successfully closed all the passages, did not leave Olma space in creation, and Walker and Shaw had under control the dangerous wings, Williams and Jamal.
How much could be seen in the opening 45 minutes is evidenced by the fact that the first shot on target was recorded in stoppage time and that when Foden tried from an angle from the first, but the ball went straight to Simmons. Until then, Spain had a few good runs and even when they lost the ball they managed to win it back quickly, but everything in their game came down to a few attempts by Williams and the monotony on the field caused by the rampart of England.
Until the break, the central figure on the field was Walker, who managed to reach and close everything as a right stopper in a formation with three at the back, but upon returning to the field, he was momentarily slower than he should have been. And, the punishment came. In the second minute of the second half, the English were caught napping. The combination of Jamal – Williams broke the Englishmen, and the Bilbao winger sent the ball behind Pickford. With that, he wrote his name in the history books as the second youngest scorer in the EURO finals, while the record is still held by Pietro Anastasi.
A blitzkrieg could easily have happened if only a few moments later Olmo was more accurate after Williams played him a great ball, but he didn’t use the zitter. The very beginning of the sequel was interesting, first when Rodri’s picture appeared in connection with the change, because few expected that the most stable player of the team and someone who is up for big things could stay in the locker room. But an injury to the back box led to his place being taken by Zubimendi.
And Spain played much more concretely, and the second goal could be felt in the air, because Morata also had a solid chance, and then Williams from a distance. In the second half, captain Harry Kane paid a little for such a game, who went to shower after an hour on the field. After those “scissors” for overtime, Jude Bellingham could easily become a competitor for the move of the tournament. Through him, after a long time, England threatened, and in the style of the one whose number he wears in Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, he turned two guards and beat from the edge of the penalty area, but the shot was not accurate enough.
At every moment when Southgate’s chosen ones would go a little more forward, they had to watch carefully because of what we have seen many times in this tournament. It is the express transformation of Spain from defense to attack and the ability to reach the danger zone in a few passes. So, in his first serious chance at the meeting, Jamal could practically close the final. Olmo connected him with the goal, and the 17-year-old tried to find a way to the far corner, but Pickford stood out with a great intervention.
During the tournament, Southgate was able to hit with changes and for the players to give him a chance from the bench to give him back concrete things and break the match. Here it refers to the decision in the 70th minute to send Cole Palmer on the pitch in place of Mayne. This one returned it to him with a goal after 180 seconds. Saka, then Bellingham and a great left ball for the arrow of the Chelsea ace from 20 meters, which completely brought his selection back to life. It was similar in the semi-final against the Netherlands when Palmer assisted Watkins for a goal after ten minutes on the field.
After the goal, Spain did not want to give up their game, but went for the second one. But Jamal did not use another possible opportunity to write his name on the scoreboard. Barcelona’s golden boy could have restored the lead to his team in the 81st minute, but Pickford came out the better again. The young Spaniard could have been the tragedy of the final, despite the assist, if by some chance the match ended differently because he did not crown two opportunities from the line of 100 percent.
What he couldn’t do was Oyarzabal, who restored the lead to his team in the 86th minute. He was helped by Olmo and Kukurelja to play England’s defense together and bring Pickford to his knees, and sadden the fans from their goal. As valuable as this goal was, at least half as much was what happened a little later when the Spaniards took the ball off the goal line twice, where first Simon stopped Palmer, and then Olmo corrected Guehi.
It was also the last chance for England, and Letexier’s whistle marked the end of their fans’ dream of the first trophy at the EURO, and the continuation of the agony in the second lost final of the European Championship in a row.
