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.

The tournament has ended, and what awaits us is a duel between the team that has shown the most so far in the tournament – Spain and the England team. Spain first went through the “group of death” with three victories against Italy, Croatia, and Albania, then they were better than Georgia 4:1, hosts Germany 2:1 and France 2:1. Carvajal and Le Normand will strengthen their team’s defense after serving their suspensions. Spain can threaten their opponents and for now, the trio of Williams, Olmo, and Yamal are causing the most problems, while Ruiz and Rodri dictate the pace of the game.

England according too many, was undeserved in the final. For the entire tournament, they played only one quality half against Switzerland and apart from that, everything else was not at the level of individual quality that they undeniably have. Southgate certainly won’t give up his idea of ​​having the best and most expensive players play for him, so we shouldn’t expect any surprises in the lineup like Palmer or Watkins, who settled the semi-final match and brought the final to England If they repeat the first half of the match with Switzerland, the final will be an excellent match, in all the opposite scenarios, we will see them in their half to reach a positive result through counterattacks.

England will play in the second consecutive final of the European Championship. Substitute Ollie Watkins scored a dramatic 90th minute goal, leading them to a 2:1 victory over the Netherlands in Dortmund. They will now compete against Spain for the trophy.

Gareth Southgate’s men were on their knees throughout the competition, but in this game, they showed the quality they possess, especially in the first half.

It was the 7th minute when Xavi Simmons scored a spectacular goal. He took advantage of a big mistake by Declan Rice, headed toward the opponent’s goal, fired at the ball, and beat Jordan Pickford.

The English did not back down after conceding a goal, but charged towards the rival’s goal and equalized the score in the 18th minute. Harry Kane converted from a good position, but referee Felix Zwaye was called on by colleagues in the VAR room to see if Denzel Dumfries had fouled the Bayern striker. In the end, the German referee pointed to the penalty spot, and the successful footballer was accurate, which was his 65th goal for the national team.

“England’s national team continued to attack and had a few more good attempts through Phil Foden. During one of his shots, Dumfries cleared the ball off the line. Then the Manchester City player’s long-range shot hit the post.

Ronald Koeman’s side could have taken another lead in the first half, but the Dumfries standout headed over the crossbar.

The big problem for the Netherlands was that forward Memphis Depay had to go off the game in the 35th minute with an injury. He was replaced by Joy Verman.

The second half was of low intensity as if both were afraid to attack. However, in the 79th minute, England scored a goal through Bukayo Saka, but it was justifiably disallowed because of the offside in which the assistant Kyle Walker was located.

When it was expected that the game would go to overtime, the reserves Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins entered the scene. The former sent a great ball for the latter, who shot from a turn and beat Bart Verbruggen. Until the end of the game, the Netherlands failed to threaten Pickford.

England will play Spain in the final of the European Championship on Sunday. Let’s remind, at the last continental competition, Gareth Southgate’s team lost to Italy in the final.

Ollie Watkins

“Unbelievable. I’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks. It took a lot of hard work to get here. I swear to my life I said to Cole: ‘We’re going to come today, you’re going to set me up’. We’re in the final and that’s all that matters. We are ready for Spain”

Harry Kane

“We made history. Amazing achievement, I’m so proud, it was a tough tournament. One more match left on Sunday. Ollie waited and was patient. What a finish. I think we were the better team, especially in the first half. We deserved it to win. I was happy to go out and then we scored. We have one more game to make history, 90 minutes, penalties, whatever it takes.”

Southgate’s new big score

England under Gareth Southgate: World Cup 2018 semi-final, EURO 2020 final, World Cup 2022 quarter-final, EURO 2024 final.

Jude Bellingham

“We were criticized whenever we played badly, but what is important is that we were resistant to such stories, that we stuck together and won. These are significant moments. They unite us even more than as a team and as a family. Moments like this make us we’re going to the finals now. I knew how much he could do because he didn’t start the matches in the club. They look successful, they really see them play”

Spain is the first finalists of the European Championship, after they beat France 2:1 in the match that took place in Munich.

The child prodigy Lamine Yamal, who wrote the history of EURO 2024, will long remember this match. He became the youngest scorer in the semifinals of continental competitions.

The audience that came to the Allianz Arena, as well as those near the small screens, could enjoy a fantastic game, especially in the first half, when all three goals were scored.

Only nine minutes were enough to shake the net. The striker of the “tricolor”, Randal Kolo Muani did it. Kylian Mbappé made a successful cross from the left side. The best position was the PSG player who beat Unai Simon with an excellent header.

From that moment on, Spain looked like the team that dominated during EURO 2024. Their attacking football paid off. In just four minutes, she came to a turning point. First, the super-talented Lamine Yamal fired at the ball from about 20 meters. Mike Manjan threw himself, but the shot was undefendable and the ball ended up behind his back.

In the 25th minute, the French may have felt back for the matches against Austria and Belgium, which they won with their rivals’ own goals. That’s how Spain took the lead. Dani Olmo “mixed up” the opponent’s defense. After that, he shot well. The ball went into the goal, and Jules Koundé tried to prevent it from ending up there. He shook his net. In the end, they officially credited the goal to the Leipzig midfielder.

The second part of the match was less meaningful. France threatened dangerously with the headers of Aurelien Tchouameni and Dayot Upamekano, but they were not of sufficient quality to finish behind the goalkeeper of Athletic Bilbao. Also, Theo Hernandez and Kylian Mbappé’s shots from good positions ended up high over the goal.

Spain threatened little. Luis de la Fuente’s chosen team kept the score and did it, and thus they are when they are fighting for the fourth title of European champion. They won the trophy in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

It is also worth noting that this national team achieved the first-ever record of six consecutive victories at the championship of the Old Continent.

Spain will meet the winner of the duel between England and the Netherlands in the final. The mentioned match will be played on Wednesday in Dortmund.