Spain beat England 2-1 in a dramatic European Championship final. This is a record fourth title in the history of "La Furia Roja".
In front of a number of officials, including UEFA and FIFA presidents Aleksandar Ceferin and Gianni Infantino respectively, former Germany coach Joachim Loew, as well as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Prince William, the opening minutes saw the team as slight favorites ahead of the final. of Spain. However, the English had taken measures for the danger that hid from the opponent's flanks, where Lamin Yamal and Nico Williams were operating. The two talents rarely had opportunities to threaten Jordan Pickford's goal.
After a good start to the match, Gareth Southgate's men looked towards the opposition goal and Kyle Walker received a good pass from the right but failed to cross. Strong minutes followed for La Furia Roja, but the pressure was not enough to open up more serious work for Pickford. In the continuation of the first part came the first accurate shot in the direction of one of the two goals - it was the work of Phil Foden, but it did not hinder Unai Simon. Earlier, Harry Kane, who had a quiet opening 45 minutes, had a shot blocked by Rhodri. Thus, at the break, the score between the two teams remained 0:0.
The second half started with a lightning goal for the Spaniards, who were not embarrassed after the forced removal of Rodri. The ball went past Luke Shaw, who had made no mistake in the first half. Yamal advanced and passed to Williams, who with a sharp shot pierced Pickford for 1:0. In the following minutes, Luis de la Fuente's men pressed in search of a second goal, but the English survived. After about an hour, Southgate brought on Kane and brought on Ollie Watkins, who sent the Three Lions into the final with a late goal against the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
In the 73rd minute, Watkins passed to another of the English reserves - Cole Palmer, who with a very precise execution with his left foot checked Simon for 1:1. However, England fell further back in defense and were punished by one of Spain's substitutes, Mikel Oyarzabal, who latched on to Mark Cucurea's sharp pass from the left. By the end, the English could have taken the match to extra time, but they were unlucky with a corner. Declan Rice's header was parried by Simon and then Danny Olmo cleared another header, this time from Mark Gehi, off the line.
In the end, La Furia Roja held on and celebrated a record fourth European title in history, after those in 1964, 2008 and 2012. The Spaniards moved ahead of Germany, who remained with three trophies. England, for their part, will have to wait at least another four years for their first European title in history - the "Three Lions" remain with the world title since 1966, after losing to Italy in the Euro 2020 final three years ago. | BGNES
