Ouagadougou: Spain made Euro history by being the first nation to obtain a 4th continental coronation, shattering the dream of England, beaten 2-1 and still without a trophy after 58 years of waiting, Sunday at Berlin.
In an Olympic stadium two-thirds full of English fans, the curse continued for the poor Three Lions, in search of a title since the 1966 World Cup organized on their soil. Gareth Southgate’s men thought they could finally bring the cup home but like Germany, the host country, in the quarter-finals (2-1 ap), then France in the semi-finals (2-1), they fell on Spaniards confident in their game and their collective strength.
In an overall very lackluster tournament, La Roja was the only team to put on a show, with its formidable offensive potential. England paid the price at the end of a final which also did not reach technical heights but still confirmed Spanish superiority.
The hero of the game was Mikel Oyarzabal, who entered during the game and scored the winning goal in the 86th minute. Whi
le the two teams were tied after the opener from Nico Williams (47th) then the English goal from Cole Palmer (74th), the Real Sociedad player propelled his team to paradise.
After the prodigy Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest scorer in the competition in the semi-final at 16 years and 362 days, La Roja found another savior to allow him to win a fourth time in a European Championship after 1964, 2008 and 2012.
– Kane still empty-handed –
Adept as always of excessive possession of the ball, the Spaniards this time knew how to add percussion with fiery attackers to put an end to a sterile domination, long their trademark.
All the credit goes to coach Luis de la Fuente, successor to Luis Enrique, after a 2022 World Cup ended pitifully on penalties in the round of 16 against Morocco. This success is not due to chance for a team which had already won, under the direction of its new coach, the League of Nations in 2023, with roughly the same revenue.
The failure in the final is, however, very cruel for Gare
th Southgate’s England, the only favorite nation to be worthy of its status in this Euro, when France and Germany were incapable of living up to their rank. . Certainly, the journey will have been up and down, with stars not always there, like Jude Bellingham. But the English firmly believed that they could put an end to their curse before, once again, falling from a great height.
They will have to wait a little longer before removing this label of eternal losers that sticks to them. History repeats itself for Gareth Southgate, who has several times come close to international recognition. Semi-finalist of the 2018 World Cup, finalist of Euro-2021, narrowly beaten by the Blues in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup (2-1), he again lost the match that should not have been lost. In office since 2016, his future is now dotted.
For Harry Kane too, the finals follow one another and are similar. The prolific Bayern Munich center forward has still not won a single title in his career and he leaves Berlin with
his head down. Like the other Three Lions and their unfortunate supporters.
Source: Burkina Information Agency