July 14, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.
by STEVE DOUGLAS / The Associated Press
BERLIN — Spain is the king of European men’s soccer for a record fourth time.
For England, it’s another agonizing near miss in the team’s decades-long tale of underachievement.
Spain beat England 2-1 in the 2024 European Championship final on Sunday, with Mikel Oyarzabal the unlikely scorer of the winning goal for La Roja in the 86th minute.
Oyarzabal, a backup striker who came on as a substitute for captain Alvaro Morata, slid in to poke home a left-wing cross by Marc Cucurella, just when the game at Berlin’s Olympiastadion seemed destined for extra time.
England, the birthplace of soccer, is still without a major title in the men’s game since winning the 1966 World Cup. Members of the Three Lions watched forlornly as Morata raised aloft the silver trophy to a backdrop of confetti and fireworks inside the stadium built for the 1936 Olympics.
Add this to the Euro titles won by Spain in 1964, 2008 and 2012.
“Here we are, champions of Europe,” said Nico Williams, whose opening goal for Spain in the 47th minute was canceled out by England substitute Cole Palmer’s score in the 73rd. “We are thrilled and hope this can keep going and we can go for the (2026) World Cup.”
Lamine Yamal, the prodigy who turned 17 on Saturday and is the youngest player to have appeared at a European Championship tournament, set up Williams’ goal with an inside run before passing across the face of the area. The two wingers have become the poster boys of an exciting, multicultural team that reflects Spain’s changing demographics.
Yamal’s mother is from Equatorial Guinea and his father is from Morocco, while the 22-year-old Williams has Ghanaian parents who made the long journey to Europe looking for a better life. To make it to Spain, they had to ride on the back of a crowded truck and walk barefoot through the Sahara Desert.
“I believe there is a historical change; we are really grateful,” said Williams, the player of the match with his darting runs and his second goal of the tourney.
“My parents have suffered a lot to get here. They are the ones who have suffered the most, and they have instilled this sort of respect and loyalty in me,” he said. “I’m really happy because we are making history.”
Unlike his brother Inaki, who is a Ghana international, Nico chose to play for Spain and will now be regarded as a national hero there.
Spain is back as a major player in senior-level soccer after winning both the Women’s World Cup — also against England — and the men’s UEFA Nations League in 2023.
Since 2001, Spanish men’s teams have won 23 consecutive major finals in club and international soccer.
“I said before the tournament: Nobody can hang with us,” Williams said.
Spain won all seven of its Euro games — an unprecedented feat — and broke the record for goals scored in a single tournament, with 15.
There were joyous scenes after the final whistle, with defender Dani Carvajal piled on by jubilant teammates after slumping to the ground. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was thrown into the air by his players. Cucurella and Yamal both led Spain’s players in jumping over the advertising boards to reach the red-and-yellow-clad fans in the stadium’s east end.
“This is the best (birthday) gift I could have asked for,” Yamal said. “It is a dream come true.”
After getting his medal, the teenager turned and shook his fist in celebration, stuck his tongue out and showed off a beaming grin. By then, Yamal and his teammates were wearing Spain jerseys with “Kings of Europe” and the number 4 on the back.
Meanwhile, fans who had watched the game on a big screen in Madrid celebrated wildly, chanting “Champions! Champions!” in Spanish. It was a great sporting day for the nation, with Carlos Alcaraz winning the Wimbledon men’s singles title for a second straight year hours before the Euro 2024 final.
As for England, the men’s team has now lost back-to-back Euro finals — it was defeated in a penalty shootout by Italy on home soil in the final in 2021 — and this was another painful loss for a team that will have gone six decades without a major title by the next World Cup, which will take place two years from now in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
England’s women have been more successful, though, winning their Euro title in 2021 and reaching the Women’s World Cup final two years later.
“This time it just wasn’t meant to be,” Prince William, who attended the final alongside other dignitaries including Spain’s King Felipe, wrote on social media. “We’re all still so proud of you.”
It was the fourth straight game in which the English came from behind since the group stage, but their resilience wasn’t rewarded this time.
A team that has produced big moments when it really mattered at Euro 2024 — including Jude Bellingham’s 95th-minute overhead kick against Slovakia in the round of 16 — couldn’t deliver another one, with Spain midfielder Dani Olmo clearing the ball off the line at a corner in the 89th minute.
“It has been a difficult ride, we have done extremely well to get here, but ultimately we are going to be judged on this game,” England captain Harry Kane said.
“It’s extremely painful. It’s going to hurt for a long, long time.”
England coach Gareth Southgate, who has been in charge for eight years and also led the team to the World Cup semifinals in 2018, said it wasn’t the time to make a decision on his future. His contract expires in December.
“Most of this squad are going to be around not just for the World Cup but the next Euros as well,” Southgate said. “There’s a lot to look forward to, but at this moment that’s not any consolation.”
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