Another fairytale moment from England. Another goal that can be compared to the others scored brilliantly and memorably by Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Ollie Watkins. This one, scored under the blood-red sky of Berlin, was the work of the extremely talented Cole Palmer.
But this time it wasn’t enough to have a moment of individual brilliance. Things like that don’t usually win summer tournaments. The big teams do, and Spain were the only ones to win in Germany last month. England certainly haven’t been one of them.
They have been tenacious, stubborn, resilient, ever more committed and united. They have brought us memorable moments and glimpses of true joy. They have allowed us all to have hope again. They have brought us together for another chance to do something fantastic in fan parks, in pubs and in living rooms in front of televisions.
But did they play football well enough to break that cursed trophy drought that will now stretch to an embarrassing 60 years by the time the World Cup comes around in two years? No, they didn’t. Not even close, actually.
Did they play as we expected here in Germany? Did we show the best of our talent and our game to the rest of Europe? Did we show everyone how sophisticated we have become in recent years? No, we didn’t. All that will have to wait until someone one day solves the puzzle of how to get English players to a summer tournament in the right condition and with the right amount of freshness.
England were outclassed by a superior Spain and suffered defeat in the Euro 2024 final
Cole Palmer provided another picture-book moment, but it wasn’t enough for England.
Jude Bellingham could not contain his frustration after the final whistle following Spain’s victory
Gareth Southgate’s side almost proved that a summer tournament can be won on individual moments, but a strong Spanish side proved too much in the end.
Southgate has returned England to the land of respectability, but there are still steps to take that may require a change of manager in the future.
That person is probably not Gareth Southgate. We thank him for everything he has done. He has brought England back to the land of respectability and competitiveness and we should all be eternally grateful for that. He has taken our national team forward in many different ways. In the future, we will all see that.
But what this summer has probably taught us is that there are still steps to be taken and perhaps they are bigger than we all thought. Frankly, they should be steps that the new England manager takes now.
Here, in this wonderful, magical and historic grand amphitheatre, we witnessed an exciting and thrilling football match. It was not a grand final in the first half. Quite the contrary.
England played to their strengths. They played direct football that had the words Premier League written all over it. They occasionally played long passes. They did so in a varied way.
They sought out and won second-string balls. They played man-to-man in midfield and it worked. Credit must go to Southgate for that. Spain didn’t manage a single shot on goal.
After that, it became something of a mini-clásico, but only because England refused to let go of what they thought could be theirs. Spain played brilliantly in the second 45 minutes. Their two wide players, Nico Williams and the remarkable teenager Lamine Yamal, took charge of the game. The first goal was a geometric marvel. Right to left and forward and inward. Marvellous.
From that point on, they should have steamrolled England. They were far superior. The 15 minutes between half-time and the hour mark, when the heavy, lanky Harry Kane was replaced by Watkins, were probably England’s worst of the entire tournament and so there is plenty of competition.
Spain scored a goal and could have done it four times. England were exposed and shattered. Declan Rice and young Kobbie Mainoo were bewildered. Marc Guehi looked genuinely bewildered for the first time all month. And then England scored with their second shot of the whole game and we weren’t surprised. Slovakia, Switzerland and Holland had all been hit in the mouth by that blow and now Spain had felt it too. Do you think about this? Not yet, not likely.
Spain played brilliantly in the second 45 and Nico Williams’ goal was wonderful.
England played one of their worst games of the tournament at the start of the second half.
But this time, in the end, it was. England’s ability to stem the tide of inevitability and conventionality during this tournament has been something extraordinary. They played four knockout games and came out on top in all of them. It’s been quite a journey, but deep down we were probably hoping that the team would be good enough and calm enough to weather the English storm, and Spain were that team.
They were fabulous to watch in the second half. The pace at which they moved the ball, the angles and overloads they encountered were straight out of the classic Spanish playbook.
This team cannot compare with the one from the 2008/2010/2012 season, but who can? They are still a very good team, and what a brave team they were! England’s previous opponents in this match had buckled under the weight of their opponents’ comebacks. They had not managed to mentally survive the knowledge that they were being countered by a team that looked dead.
This Spanish team cannot be compared to its glory years, but it is still a very good team.
England made the country dream but unlike Spain, which is a champion team, the Three Lions are a team of champion moments.
So we congratulate Luis de la Fuente and his players and now look at England with the light of realism that always comes when you lose important games. A win in this tournament would have been a wonderful thing. We would have forgiven England anything if they had brought that beautiful trophy home.
But the truth is that they have gone through this tournament like scavengers rummaging through bins at night. They have stolen everything they could while no one was looking. It has been fascinating and increasingly invigorating. It has generated love, hope and optimism. But England have played a poor brand of football for much of their time here and it would be a mistake to overlook that. That, sadly, is the starting position we should adopt going forward.
Perhaps you could think of it this way: if you had to put together a tournament team with all 24 participating countries, how many English players would you include? None, perhaps. That tells us a lot about how this has been and where it needs to go now.
Thank you, England. We dreamed a dream for a while. But Spain is a champion team, England is a team of champion moments. There is a big difference.