England’s painful defeat after Spain score winning goal in last minutes
England’s hopes of ending its 58-year wait to win a men’s major international football tournament were shattered when Spain went ahead 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final.
It’s not coming home, the European Championship trophy. England have been left devastated and Spain are football champions of Europe yet again.
The Spaniards dominated their opposition in Monday morning’s (AEST) Euro 2024 final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin and landed the decisive goal in the 86th minute to crush England’s growing confidence.
England’s hopes of ending its 58-year wait to win a men’s major international football tournament were shattered when Spain went ahead 2-1 and held on to win the trophy.
There was late controversy in the match when replays showed the match-winning goal could have been taken off Spain because of a potential offside ruling.
Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal turned home in the 86th minute after Nico Williams sent Spain ahead early in the second half, but England substitute Cole Palmer pulled the Three Lions level in the 73rd minute.
Marc Cucurella later whipped in a perfect cross and Oyarzabal made no mistake with his tap-in past keeper Jordan Pickford.
The goal was looked at by the VAR with replays showing Oyarzabal may have been offside.
England almost equalised at the death but Dani Olmo headed Marc Guehi’s effort off the line to safety.
Despite the drama, there is no denying Spain was the better team and deserved the victory, having gone through the tournament winning all seven games.
Spain lost influential midfielder Rodri to injury at half-time, but shrugged that off to take the lead within two minutes of the restart through Williams, who was set up by his fellow star winger, Lamine Yamal.
England came from behind as they have done so often at this Euros, as substitute Palmer drove in the equaliser on 73 minutes, moments after entering the fray.
But their resurgence in the game was cut short as Oyarzabal turned in his cross in the 86th minute to hand Spain a record fourth European Championship crown, and a third in the last five editions.
They previously won in 1964, 2008 and 2012, the last two titles coming either side of their triumph at the 2010 World Cup during the golden era of Xavi Hernandez, Xabi Alonso and Andres Iniesta.
Whether this generation, led by the brilliant Yamal who was playing a day after his 17th birthday, manage to repeat the achievements of that magnificent side remains to be seen, but theirs was a fitting victory.
England had hoped to finally claim a first men’s international title since their fabled victory at the 1966 World Cup, but fell just short in their first final on foreign soil.
After the agony of their defeat on penalties to Italy three years ago, they are the first side ever to lose back-to-back Euros finals.
Captain Harry Kane, meanwhile, is left at the age of 30 still looking for the first trophy of a career so rich in goals, this defeat coming after a season in which he also won nothing with Bayern Munich.
England equalises from out of nowhere
England equalised against the run of play to set up a grandstand finish.
Spain had been dominating possession and had been peppering the England box with dangerous passes, but it was a counter-attacking goal for England that has flipped the match on its head.
Bukayo Saka started the movement with a long run down the side of the field before his ball into the box ended up with a pass back to Palmer.
Palmer stepped up from outside the box and slotted a classy finish into the back of the net.
Spain breaks deadlock in ‘sucker punch’
After a sound defensive performance in the first half, England lasted just one minute before conceding in the second.
Williams had arguably been the player of the first 45 minutes and received the ball with plenty of space before driving his shot home past Kyle Walker and Pickford.
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Spain had been in control since the start of the second half and there were worrying signs for England as soon as they walked back onto the pitch.
“What a calamitous start to the second half,” Sky Sports’ Rob Dorsett said from inside the Olympiastadion.
“England were half asleep.”
Former England international Matt Upson described the goal as a “sucker punch”.
England were desperate to find a way back into the match and manager Gareth Southgate rolled the dice with his biggest gamble of the tournament by taking off captain Kane in the 61st minute.
Kane struggled to get any touches during the first half and Southgate‘s decision to inject Ollie Watkins into the game did not come as a total surprise.
Spain dominates possession in first half but England satisfied
Spain dominated the ball in the opening minutes and while not troubling the goalkeeper, Williams did force John Stones into a diving last-ditch intervention in the 12th minute.
England made its first serious foray a quarter of an hour in as Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka combined to release an overlapping Kyle Walker. But his cross was blocked. Still, there were signs England was warming to the contest.
Spain responded as young star Yamal finally found the ball and the possession split reached 70-30 in the favourites’ favour.
England’s frustrations boiled over as Kane was given a yellow card for a reckless challenge midway through the half. But Spain wasn’t having everything its own way either and saw Dani Olmo booked too.
After half an hour there had been no shots on target as surprise England inclusion Luke Shaw did an impressive job containing Yamal.
Buoyed by their defensive stability, England finished a first half that had very little to offer neutrals the stronger. Kane had a shot blocked and then Phil Foden forced Spanish keeper Unai Simon into his first save in injury time.
“Disappointing first half for the neutrals. Needed an early goal like both semis,” former Socceroo Craig Foster tweeted.
“(Declan) Rice so far doing a great job on Olmo, forcing Spain wide. In which case, the wingers have a greater burden. Williams the standout but, again, like so often for City, Walker’s speed is vital.”
England pulls selection stunner
The finale brought the curtain down on a month of football in Germany in which Spain — featuring teenage sensation Lamine Yamal — has been comfortably the most impressive side.
The Spaniards had already eliminated several of the continent’s heavyweights while winning all six matches en route to the final as they aim to become European champions for a record fourth time, after 1964, 2008 and 2012.
England, meanwhile, has often struggled against lesser opposition but produced its best performance yet in beating the Netherlands in the semi-finals, when Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score and seal a 2-1 victory.
Southgate has led England to a second consecutive European Championship final as he aims to banish the memory of a penalty shootout loss to Italy at Wembley in the deciding game of the last edition, three years ago.
England’s men have not won a title since the 1966 World Cup which they won on home soil.
“I’m not a believer in fairy tales but I am a believer in dreams,” Southgate said at his pre-match press conference.
England has had several near misses in recent years – reaching the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup and bowing out in the last eight of the 2022 World Cup to France, either side of the Euro 2020 heartache.
UK media reports have suggested that England fans could account for as much as half the crowd inside the 71,000-capacity Olympiastadion, despite both finalists only receiving an official allocation of 10,000 tickets for the match.
The home of Hertha Berlin was also the venue for the 2006 World Cup final, when Italy beat France on penalties.
- with AFP
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