The Spanish national team is the European champion! Luis de la Fuente’s team won gold, winning all the matches in this tournament, including the final against England. At Euro 2024, the strongest really won.
Gareth Southgate tried to surprise his Spanish colleague. For the first time at Euro 2024, the English coach started full-back Luke Shaw, who replaced Kieran Trippier. Interestingly, the two scored England’s only goal in the Euro 2020 final three years ago. Shaw then scored from a pass from Trippier. This is only the second time that a player has appeared in the starting line-up only in the decisive match of the European Championship. At Euro 2000, Italian striker Marco Delvecchio found himself in a similar situation and eventually scored against the French.
But the main thing that Southgate did was to return to a four-man formation. Perhaps De la Fuente did not expect such a move from his opponent. In addition, on the left flank of the midfield there was not Phil Foden, but Jude Bellingham, who was used to playing in this position thanks to his year at Real Madrid. He closed the area to his teammate Dani Carvajal. The English national team actively spent the first minutes, confronting the Spaniards with high pressure, starting with Harry Kane and Foden, who helped him.
Spain – England
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The Red Fury then took control of the ball and territory, although for De la Fuente this is not as important as it was for Luis Enrique. But the English team defended well with a central block. Very tight. The British did not leave any free space, so the Spaniards, with 70% possession, could not quickly combine between the lines or take advantage of the movements to the center of the mature (he had turned 17 the day before) Lamin Yamal. Shaw controlled the movements of the prodigy.
The game was captivating, which cannot be said of all England matches at Euro 2024, but there were no chances of scoring. In the first half, the only thing I remember is the quick attack by the Spaniards, when they managed to get Kyle Walker off his flank. Nico Williams was left alone with John Stones in the box, but the Manchester City defender blocked the opponent’s shot with a truly champion’s tackle.
Meanwhile, a real squabble began on the pitch, worthy of the final. The young French referee François Letexier allowed the match to develop, but cooled the players’ ardor with a couple of yellow cards. The teams continued until the break, tightly hugging each other. During the half, the teams of England and Spain each had one shot on goal. The score of 0-0 absolutely objectively reflected the content of the game. According to the statistics of touches of the ball in the opponent’s penalty area, the Spaniards had a minimal advantage – 11:8. Kane faced the ball only 12 times, and Unai Simone only once in the penalty area – in the 44th minute.
The bad news for the Spanish team was the substitution of Rodri, who was injured, at half-time. The wing edges did not fly and the center was also damaged. In the first half, Yamal did not dribble (two failed attempts), but already in the second minute of the second half, the Spaniards made their best attack of the match and scored with the participation of Lamin. Carvajal scattered it with a wonderful pass to the third, right for Yamal. The Barça winger passed to Williams, who received space from Walker. Kyle moved in vain towards the center in search of support. Nico made a perfect low shot to give Spain the lead.
Interesting texts for the Euro 2024 final:
This segment is the peak of Furia Roja’s activity. But the British seemed to have started to take a nap; De la Fuente’s team created moment after moment after their goal. If Dani Olmo, Alvaro Morata or Williams, who had the opportunity to score a double, had immediately scored the second goal, the Spanish team would have completely demolished the enemy. Southgate intervened with a substitution: he was the first to take off Kane, who had a botched finish. Only in the 64th minute did England finally score in the second half of the match: Bellingham skilfully avoided two men with a feint from Zidane and shot dangerously low past Martin Subimendi, who had replaced Rodri.
The game opened up: England suffered. But what a unique quality Southgate’s team has! The ability to get out of the swamp when everyone else has already given up. Halfway through the half, the English manager also released Cole Palmer, and three minutes later this substitution took effect. The main architect of the scoring attack was Bellingham, who first caught the ball in the centre, then broke wide in the area and rolled towards the approaching Chelsea midfielder. Spain were missing Rodri, Subimendi or anyone else around the area in the transition phase. Palmer scored with a low shot into the far corner. A small rebound – and that’s it, get it out, Simon.
Spain – England
Photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
But the Spanish national team deserved to win the match. De la Fuente’s team outshot the English team almost twice: 16:9 (from the penalty area – 12:4, on goal – 6:4). Yamal, if he had been a little more experienced or a little luckier, would have scored a double. And in the 86th minute, Mark Cucurella’s early connection gave the Spaniards the “golden” goal. The Premier League defender cut off the cross and the fresh Mikel Oyarzabal won the fight against Mark Guehi, playing ahead. There were suspicions of offside, but modern technology confirmed the legitimacy of this goal. The English national team, having organized the final assault, had the opportunity to escape. Gekhi could have corrected his mistake by heading the ball deflected by Simon. But Olmo blocked his path on the goal line. Savior of the European champions.
