Spain He defeated them to become European champions. England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin, with substitutions Mikel Oyarzabal He scored the winning goal in the 86th minute.
This meant England lost consecutive European Championship finals. Italy It will take place at Wembley in 2021.
Ramin Yamal and Nico Williams Spain took the lead 75 seconds into the second half. Rodri He was forced to leave the game at half-time with a hamstring injury. England fought back. Cole Palmer Spain took the lead in the 73rd minute, and Oyarzabal scored the winning goal in the final minutes of the game.
Mark Carey, Liam Thurm, Dermot Corrigan and Jacob Whitehead analyse the key talking points from Berlin…
Who was Oyarzabal, Spain’s unlikely hero?
One of Luis de la Fuente’s first decisions after taking over as Spain manager was to appoint Oyarzabal as one of his vice-captains, breaking with the tradition of including a young, inexperienced player in the national team coaching group.
That’s because de la Fuente valued his fellow Basque man’s influence on and off the pitch. Oyarzabal, who became Real Sociedad captain in his early 20s, had always been a versatile and intelligent attacker but never a prolific scorer. De la Fuente knew and valued Oyarzabal, who was a key member of the Spain team that won the European Under-21 Championship in 2019, which he coached.
Oyarzabal scored the winning goal (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
But he has a talent for scoring crucial goals in big matches – scoring from the penalty spot in the 2020 Copa del Rey final to beat Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao – but then a serious knee injury forced him to miss the 2022 World Cup.
When you do so Alvaro Morata A change was needed midway through the second half, real madridof Champions League-victory Josel De la Fuente turned to players he knew and trusted, and when the moment came, his timing was perfect, he stayed just onside and his finish was precise and unstoppable.
The manager’s faith was rewarded with one of the most important goals in the history of Spanish football.
Dermot Corrigan
Bellingham lost focus on the first goal but made up for it with an assist from Palmer.
The main tournament finals are a battle between heroes and villains.
Jude Bellingham In England the former prevailed, but he Dani Carvajal Or Yamal as an opener.
With Rodri out, England switched to a more attacking 4-4-2 pressing formation.Phil Foden Spain used this formation, with Bellingham man-marking him at left midfield, and this right-wing rotation, with Yamal cutting inside and Carvajal pushing in, has been a feature of Spain’s play throughout the tournament.
Bellingham pushed Carvajal forward…
…and then asked his defenders to step up to mark Yamal. Luke Shaw Now it’s 2-1.
Bellingham was not marking either the full-back or the winger, and Spain’s link-up was sharp. Robin Le Normand To Carvajal, to Yamal…
…Then he dribbled and made a perfect pass to Williams on the other side.
In true Bellingham style, he made full amends for that mistake with an assist for Palmer’s equaliser (and won nine of his 14 ground duels throughout the match, beating Rodri).
He spent much of the game battling with the Spain midfielder, making contact as Palmer returned the ball into the bottom corner.
Still just 21, Bellingham continues to perform when needed in finals for club and country. His greatest strength is being able to make the plays that are needed in the game, as he showed again in Berlin. Who else?
Liam Turme
Spain, with their excellent scoring ability, deserves to win the tournament.
Williams’ opening goal was Spain’s 14th of the tournament, their most ever at a European Championship or World Cup, and put them level with 1984 winners France as the all-time leading scorer in the Euros. Oyarzabal’s winner gave Spain the lead.
Spain won three straight games in the group stage, starting with a 3-0 win over Croatia, then beat Italy 1-0 and, having already qualified, beat Albania 1-0.
The drama for Spain really began in the knockout stages.
Georgia jumped out to a shock lead, evoking memories of losses to Russia and Morocco, but Rodri equalised and Spain rallied in the second half to win. They trailed by Germany in the quarter-finals but rallied to deliver a knockout punch. They lost by one point to France in the semi-finals but overcame wonder goals from Yamal and Dani Olmo to reach the final.
Excluding own goal
After a beautifully constructed and neatly scored goal from Williams against England, Spain never held back, with good shots from Williams, Olmo and Yamal each making it easily 2-0. Jordan Pickford Savings success Barcelona The three of them worked together to give Yamal another chance, but Everton The goalkeeper pushed it away again.
With extra time looming, it was Spain who were looking to win inside the 90 minutes, and with four minutes remaining, substitute striker Oyarzabal smashed home the winner. Mark Cucurellaof the cross.
Until the arrival of de la Fuente’s young, exciting and ambitious Spain side, no team had scored 15 goals at a European Championship, but their attacking approach paid off in the form of trophies.
Dermot Corrigan
Rodri’s injury didn’t factor into Spain’s defeat in Berlin
Rodri did an incredible amount of work in the first 45 minutes and, as always, was influential from a defensive midfield position.
Yamal’s early chance came after Rodri had denied Foden inside the England half, and the Manchester City midfielder had denied Bellingham several attempts to break through with some smart interventions near the halfway line.
Rodri was also effective when needed near his own box, and early in the first half he leapt out to block an opposing shot. Declan Rice He hit a 25-yard shot and then threw himself back in again near halftime. Harry Kane A shot from the edge of the penalty area.
However, this intervention was to be Rodri’s final contribution of the game, as the stretch left him with a hamstring injury and his body was at its limit after his 63rd appearance of a very long season.
Rodri suffers hamstring injury (Getty Images)
Little experience but highly regarded Martin Zvimendiof Real Sociedadand Spain were soon ahead. Zubimendi’s role now was to help Spain control the ball and the game. The Basque did not take that role negatively, and he quickly charged forward, John Stones The England defender was fouled and given a booking.
But for the most part, Zubimendi has dropped into a more forward position in front of the back four, keeping the ball simple and Fabian Ruiz He was often close to goal and continued his fine tournament with some of his finer, more precise passing. It was going well when Spain were close to extending their 1-0 lead, but when the ball fell to Palmer on the edge of the penalty area, a hole the size of Rodri was left and Zubimendi wasn’t close enough to block the equaliser.
Dermot Corrigan
The Battle of Shaw and Yamal
It was a big decision for England manager Gareth Southgate to include Shaw in the starting XI for the first time this summer, with it being his first start since February due to injury.
Shaw was tasked with the small task of looking after Yamal, the most exciting player in European football, who has lit up the competition with his creative threat and thunderous striking ability. Kieran Trippier It may have (eventually) been the better option on the night, as Yamal could have played the ball onto Trippier’s stronger right foot and drifted infield, but a fit Shaw got off to a great start, largely silencing the teenager in the first half.
He stuck closely to Yamar without the ball, giving the 17-year-old little room to stretch his legs and gain momentum in the game. Crucially, when Southgate’s team broke through and the England left-back darted forward, Shaw made Yamar think about defensive responsibilities as much as attacking duties.
But Yamal doesn’t need many opportunities to punish you, and within seconds of the start of the second half, Shaw was caught in front of Yamal, who spun backwards to receive the ball from Carvajal.He rejected Shaw’s challenge.He then delivered a perfect pass to Williams, who scored with one shot.
Having a left-footed player at left-back would bring more balance to the England team. South Exit He knew selecting Shaw was a decision to make towards the latter stages of the tournament given his injury problems and, true to his word, he trusted the player – the only starter to score in a European Championship final – on the biggest stage.
While Shaw generally performed well, it took one brief moment for Yamal to make his presence felt in the match.
Mark Carey
Kane struggles again for England
Kane has played some impressive plays in this tournament, including the winning goal against Slovakia and a calm penalty kick to tie the game against the Netherlands, but he has not performed at his best across the court.
His movement struggled in the final, as it had throughout the tournament, allowing Spain’s centre-backs to press aggressively without worrying about him making runs in behind. An early yellow card and struggling to find team-mates in hold-up play meant Southgate had his reasons for being forced to make some early substitutions up front.
Williams’ goal just after the break added to the momentum, and after another ten minutes Kane still hadn’t found the ball, Southgate was called into action. Ollie WatkinsKane, who scored the winner in the 90th minute against the Netherlands in the semi-final, was replaced as England captain after the hour, and his final act was to raise his hands in exasperation at not receiving Foden’s cross and hand him the captain’s armband. Kyle Walker.
Another move by Southgate was Kobe Mainu Palmer was introduced in the 70th minute, Bellingham moved into midfield and the man behind that semi-final goal came on to the pitch. Just three minutes after Palmer was introduced, England had a chance. Bukayo Saka A pass was sent into space on the right wing and his inside pass found Bellingham, who calmly passed it to Palmer, but Chelsea The player was even more composed, took small steps to stay on the ball and finished the pass into the net from 25 yards.
England are tied for their fourth consecutive Euro 2024 knockout match.
Jacob Whitehead
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(Top photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
