Yahoo Sports Three key moments from the Euro 2024 final as Spain beat England
Spain broke English hearts to win the Euro 2024 final 2-1 in Berlin on Sunday night.
It’s the fourth time the Iberian nation have claimed the European Championship, the most of any side in the competition’s history. The Three Lions are still waiting for their first after losing two successive deciders.
The first half didn’t provide much in the way of entertainment, but there is plenty to talk about from the second. We’ve picked out the key moments that decided this contest.
Euro 2024 final: Three key moments as Spain defeat England
Nico Williams brings the final to life
Spain were dealt a blow to start the second half as Luis De La Fuente was forced into taking Rodri off due to injury. Of all the players he would not have wanted to lose, it would be the Manchester City midfielder, who had played himself into contention for Player of the Tournament.
Perhaps it’s unrelated, but La Roja came out after the break with intent, pinning England to their collars. And they were rewarded instantly with the opening goal.
Spain broke fast down the right, the ball came to Lamine Yamal and he immediately cut inside. Quiet for the opening 45 minutes, he made his first big contribution of the night when he picked out Nico Williams on the left.
The Athletic winger hadn’t seen so much open space in the entire first half, so he made it count, firing past Jordan Pickford with his side’s first shot on target.
Deadlock: broken.
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Cole Palmer resurrects England
Spain cranked up the pressure from that point, creating several chances and forcing good saves out of Pickford. Southgate had moved to a back three, which gave the opponents far more space than before. But they failed to add to their advantage during this period.
It took England until the hour mark for them to carve out anything in attack, but still struggled to gain any traction. The, as has happened so often in this Euros, something came from nothing.
Substitute Cole Palmer started a quick breakaway by releasing Bukayo Saka down the right. He found Jude Bellingham in the box with a cutback, but the Real Madrid star was marked so tightly he couldn’t turn towards goal, so he cleverly laid it off first time.
Palmer had followed the play the entire way up the pitch and arrived at the perfect time to unleash a drilled shot from range that Unai Simon could only claw at. 1-1.
Game on.
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Spain go again
At this point the game could go either way. England had settled into the game and boasted the superior bench to push on for the win
But Spain continued to look the more danger in attack, with Lamine Yamal getting possibly the best chance to retake the lead, but Pickford once again had his number.
They finally found the second goal their performance deserved with just five minutes on the clock. Marc Cucurella received the ball on the left and Kyle Walker was nowhere to be seen.
The Man City fullback made a belated attempt to close him down, but the Chelsea man got his cross away and found Mikel Oyarzabal in the box.
The striker poked it into the net, but England were given a brief glimmer of hope when the VAR signalled the goal was under review. It looked like it might get called back for offside, but he managed to keep himself on by the slimmest of margins.
Now the Three Lions faced a race against the clock to find another equaliser.
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Last ditch defending
England were almost in immediately after the restart. Jude Bellingham threaded the needle with an unbelievable pass to Ollie Watkins, but the Aston Villa forward failed to turn it into a chance. He failed to pull off a pirouette as he entered the box and the ball ran away from him.
Watkins did, though, earn a corner for his efforts, which England turned into one of their best opportunities of the entire game.
Palmer’s looping cross was met by the run of Declan Rice, who forced a strong save out of Unai Simon, That did not clear the danger however, as the ball landed directly on the head of Marc Guehi.
The Crystal Palace defender must have seen his name in the stars as his header went goalwards, but Dani Olmo headed it off the line. The forward celebrated it as if it was a goal, full in the knowledge of how important that intervention was.
The camera immediately panned to Harry kane on the bench, covering a pained expression on his face with his hand. It reflected the mood of a nation as the dream faded away and, soon after, died in Berlin.
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