Spain Beats England to Lift The Euro 2024

Sunday was a big day for sports lovers as there were two final matches to watch, one from Europe and the other from North and South America. The European Championship, popularly known as Euro, had two high-profile teams—Spain and England—locking horns to clinch the title. The Spanish national team outclassed the English and lifted the Euro 2024 trophy after a 2-1 victory. 

Spain’s Unbeaten Journey

Spain didn’t start the tournament as the top favorite due to their quarter-final defeat to Morocco in the FIFA World Cup 2022. However, La Roja did win the UEFA Nations League in the 2022–2023 installment, and the team showed class. 

Spain didn’t have a sharpshooter like Cristiano Ronaldo or an unscathed goalkeeper like Emiliano Martínez, but the team, under Luis de la Fuente's supervision, showed consistency. They kept a clean sheet in the group stage and never conceded more than one goal in any of the knockout games. 

They never needed a penalty shootout to decide the fate of a match, and only the game against Germany went into extra time. This showed how the Spanish team had dominated the entire tournament, and by Sunday they were obvious favorites. 

Southgate and Co. lost another Final

England, on the other hand, drew 2 out of their 3 group-stage matches and even went into penalties against the Swiss team in the quarterfinal. Southgate and Co. lost the final against Italy in the last iteration of the European Championship, and a lot was riding on them. 

Stars like Harry Kane and Real Madrid prodigy Jude Bellingham had given a lot of hope to the fans. Kane had some solid contributions, and Bellingham’s bicycle kick made people believe that the result might be different this time. However, both the striker and the midfielder failed to see their side through the finishing line as they lost the final by a 1-goal margin.

Lamine Yamal shines bright

Spain won the tournament quite deservingly with the highest number of goals, and Lamine Yamal played pivotal roles in several of the 15 goals they netted. He had 4 assists in Euro 2024 and was named the Best Young Player of the Tournament. The wonder kid from Barcelona FC has been drawing attention since the very beginning, and the coach and teammates were right to have faith in him. 

Rodri, the midfielder from Manchester City FC, was named the Best Player of the Tournament with 92.48% passing accuracy and 1 goal in the UEFA Euro 2024. Significant contributions were made by Carvajal, Cucurella, Olmo, and Williams, who maintained above 50% accuracy and a huge 280 instances of ball recovery. 

Will the curse ever be lifted from Harry Kane?

Harry Kane, the 30-year-old English forward, has been subjected to both humiliation and sympathy after the defeat. Social media has erupted over his inability to win tournaments at both the club and national levels. Some say that he is a curse for whatever team he is playing for, while others state that he is one of the best players of this generation without a trophy. 

There is no question about his ability to score, but he has yet to take his team to a championship. He couldn’t do it with Tottenham Hotspur F.C. for 8 years, and his recent move to FC Bayern Munich didn’t do him any good either, as Bayer Leverkusen had a dream run to dethrone the 11-time consecutive Bundesliga champions. Now Harry has failed to win 2 back-to-back Euro finals with the English national team. 

La Roja has bigger dreams

Entire La Roja is in high spirits as they won two European tournaments, one after the other. The obvious next target is the FIFA World Cup. Spain dominated the international stages from 2008 to 2012 when they won two Euro Cups and the 2010 World Cup. 

The playing style is a lot different from the dream team consisting of legends like Iniesta, Xavi, Ramos, Pique, and Casillas. However, the current squad full of young blood and exceptional talent will surely dominate the upcoming days.