It’s coming to Spain!

The mug is back… home!

Football was vindicated and the best team of the entire tournament, Spaingot what he deserved in his grand finale Euro 2024prevailing England’s 2-1 in an excellent final in Berlin!

The Iberian seniors took the lead throughout the entire match with a wonderful goal by Nico Williams, saw England react with a terrible goal by Cole Palmer, but Mikel Oyarthambal redeemed them with a goal in the 87th minute and gave them the fourth Euro in their history!

At the top of Europe after 12 years Spain which is the first team in conquests of the institution, leaving the Germany second with three trophies.

England deserve their fate, for the second tournament in a row, they leave the final with their heads bowed, losing in stoppage time unthinkable triple chance to equalize and send the match to overtime.

In the minds of the coaches:

A team that wins, does not change and this was also true in the final for Luis De La Fuente’s Spain. In formation 4-2-3-1, the experienced technician had Simon in goal, with Carvajal, Le Norman, Laporte, Cucoureya in defense. Rodri and Fabian Ruith the two midfielders and Yamal, Olmo, Williams behind Morata.

On the other side, Gareth Southgate insisted on the same formation, but with a change of face. In the 3-4-3, Pickford in goal with Walker, Stones and Gay in central defence. Saka was the right half-back with Shaw on the left, while Rice and Mainu were found at the center of the midfield. Foden and Bellingham were moving behind the captain and sole forward, Harry Kane, in attack.

The match:

Possession and speed game from Spain in the first minutes of the final with his team De La Fuente, trying mainly from the left with the fast Koukoureya and Williams to break the very well organized defense of England. At the other end, Southgate’s team, quite compact and careful, did not leave room for the Iberians to approach the area with ease, with Stones in 12′ to stop with great tackle the advance of Williams.

The “Rochas” faced a serious problem in creating and with successive bad crosses, but also individual efforts from Yamal and Williams, they gave… food to the English defense. The only moment of note in the first half belonged to England when Xhaka’s free-kick from the right reached the far post, where Foden’s display was beaten by Simeone.

De La Fuente was forced to make a change as Rodry, after colliding with Laporte in the first half, suffered knee problems and was replaced by Thubimenti.

This move did not affect his teammates who found their way to the net a few seconds after the start of the second half. Yamal made an amazing move, bent inward, passed the ball to the left of England’s area, where Williams was, who opened the scoring with a spot kick!

Instead of England starting to come out of their “shell”, it was Spain who with an explosive seven minutes came close to “locking” the trophy.

In 49′, Olmo became the owner of the ball in the area but did not finish the phase well and the ball ended up out.

In the 55th minute, the Iberians came close to 2-0 again, missing a great chance with Morata. An excellent cross from Yamal to his captain, who crossed from the right, but Stones pushed the ball away – which, however, had not taken a path towards the goal.

The… storm died down a few seconds later, with goalscorer Nico Williams threatening Pickford again with a terrific right-footed shot that went just wide of the crossbar.

Southgate decided to shuffle the deck by taking Kane out of the match and throwing in the “golden” scorer of the semi-final with Spain, Ollie Watkins. In the 64th minute, the “three lions” threatened for the first time in the match when Bellingham found himself in a good spot outside the area and, despite being marked, he shot, with the ball not doing him any favors and going wide.

Spain’s ‘answer’ was not long in coming as it was registered in the 66th minute when Yamal produced a beautiful effort from Olmo’s cross, but Pickford made a difficult save.

The two coaches continued to make corrective moves with Southgate emerging… the winner! And that’s because three minutes after entering the match, Cole Palmer, with a wonderful dribble shot, after an assist from Bellingham, defeated Unai Simon, tying the score at 1-1!

Chelsea’s ace goal temporarily put wings on the feet of the English who, after a small “wave” of pressure towards Spain, saw the Iberians lose a huge opportunity in the 82nd minute! Nico Williams and Danny Olmo combined the ball was laid to Yamal who shot from the right but Pickford saved to keep it 1-1!

Spain stepped on the gas in the last five minutes, taking advantage of the spaces left by the English. In the 86th minute, “Rochas” redeemed themselves with the golden change! Cucurreya produced a terrific ball from the left with Oyarthambal making the save to push the ball into the net for 2-1 that gave the Iberians the lead again.

Just before the end of the match, Southgate’s team lost the opportunity of the tournament! After Palmer’s corner, the ball reached the area, with Rice making the first header and Simmons making a save, then Gueye’s second header saw Olmo clear on the line, while Rice, again, attempted to head sending the ball out and awarding the… Oscar of misfortune to the English!

In the four minutes of stoppage time left, England failed to react and Letesier’s whistle found the Spanish in a huddle and celebrating the title!

MVP: Purely on the subject of performance, the award should be shared between Yamal and Nico Williams. However, the final was decided by Ojarthambal’s goal in the 87th minute, which gave Spain the trophy!

The elevens:

Spain (De La Fuente, 4-2-3-1): Simon, Carvajal, Le Norman (83′ Nacho), Laporte, Koukoureja – Rodri (46′ Thubimendi), Ruith – Yamal (89′ Merino), Olmo, Williams, Morata (67′ Oyarthambal)

England (Gareth Southgate): Pickford – Walker, Stones, Gueye – Saka, Mainu (70′ Palmer), Rice, Shaw, Foden (89′ Toney), Bellingham – Kane (61′ Watkins)