Spain wins the European Championship, Three Lions miss

MIKEL Oyarzabal scored the last-minute winner for Spain, who beat England 2-1 in Berlin to win the 2024 European Championship, leaving the Three Lions still waiting for their first major trophy in men’s football since 1966. reports Vlad Andrejevic.

Nico Williams put Spain ahead early in the second half before Cole Palmer came off the bench to equalise again, but substitute Oyarzabal sealed victory for his country in the 86th minute.^th Minute and secured a well-deserved 4th.^th European Cup.

Spain have amazed the competition with their football throughout and are deserved winners of the cup. The technical quality of their team and the youthful flair of their lively wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams made Spain the standout team, also beating favourites Germany and France along the way.

It does, however, leave a bitter taste in the mouth for England, who became the first team to ever lose two consecutive European Championship finals. At the Olympic Stadium, they again showed their resilience and team spirit to get back into the game, but couldn’t quite get it over the line.

Spain had more possession early in the game and looked to test both England’s full-backs. Williams managed to sneak behind Kyle Walker once early on, but his shot was blocked brilliantly by John Stones, before Robin Le Normand’s overhead kick from the ensuing corner went harmlessly wide.

It took the Three Lions 15 minutes to get forward for the first time. Walker played past Bukayo Saka but his cross failed to find a teammate. Both teams struggled to get into the game properly. Spain looked calmer on the ball but slightly less dangerous than England, who were dangerous on the counterattack.

Phil Foden had the first shot on goal in first-half stoppage time, stretching to block a Luke Shaw free kick but lacking the strength to trouble the goalkeeper.

The second half was a different story. Spain came out of the blocks in a flash and were rewarded with a breakthrough within two minutes. Dani Carvajal played a beautiful direct pass to Yamal and, as he has done so often in this tournament, he carried the ball inside before finding Williams with a perfectly weighted pass. With the goal in his grasp, Williams slotted the ball past Jordan Pickford to put his team in front.

England were lucky not to fall further behind moments later when Williams again appeared in a dangerous area and passed to Dani Olmo in the box, who did a great job of getting around his defender but fired his shot wide of the post.

England looked unsettled and were lucky not to be penalised again in the 55th minute.^th Minute, when Williams intercepted a weak clearance from Declan Rice, but was unable to test Pickford with his shot.

Pickford then had to keep England in the game, but he made a brilliant save from Yamal, who had positioned himself behind Shaw, but whose shot did not have enough curve to beat the English goalkeeper.

In keeping with Gareth Southgate’s tournament motto, he dropped to the bench and brought on Ollie Watkins and Palmer, and once again his subs bore fruit. Jude Bellingham managed to divert Saka’s cross into the path of the onrushing Palmer, who showed typical composure to slot the ball into the far corner from outside the box.

Despite the equaliser, Spain did not let up, with Pickford again having to step in to stop Yamal after some brilliant interplay from the Spanish attack. But he was powerless to stop the winner. Oyarzabal, who had come on for Alvaro Morata, played a ball out wide to the overlapping Marc Cucurella before getting ahead of his defender and slotting the return ball home.

England had a great chance to equalise from a corner in injury time, but Unai Simon saved Rice’s header before Olmo cleared Marc Guehi’s follow-up shot off the line to seal the win.

While England’s eventual disappointment is likely to raise some questions, not least about the immediate future of manager Southgate, in time the Three Lions will be able to look back on another long run in a major tournament that has featured numerous historic moments and performances from the likes of Bellingham, Saka, Watkins and Guehi that provide a great platform for the future of English football.