Spain 2 England 1: Oyarzabal unexpected hero with late winner in Euro 2024 final

Spain became champions of Europe after beating England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin, with substitute Mikel Oyarzabal scoring the winning goal in the 86th minute.

It means England have now lost consecutive European Championship finals, having also lost to Italy at Wembley in 2021.

Lamin Yamal and Nico Williams later combined brilliantly to give Spain the lead 75 seconds into the second half after their influential midfielder Rodri was withdrawn at the break with a hamstring injury. England counter-attacked through Cole Palmer in the 73rd minute, before Oyarzabal scored the winner for Spain in the closing stages.

Mark Carey, Liam Thurm, Dermot Corrigan and Jacob Whitehead analyze the key talking points from Berlin…

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Who is Oyarzabal, Spain’s unlikely hero?

One of the first decisions Luis de la Fuente made when taking over as Spain coach was to make Oyarzabal one of his vice-captains, breaking tradition by placing a young and less-capped player in the team’s leadership group. include.

This was because de la Fuente highly valued his fellow Basque’s influence on and off the pitch. Made captain of Real Sociedad in his early twenties, Oyarzabal has always been a versatile and intelligent attacker, but never really a prolific goalscorer. De la Fuente also knew him, and rated him as a key member of the Spain team, which he coached to Under-21 European Championship success in 2019.

But he has the ability to score important goals in big games, having scored the winner from the penalty spot to beat Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao in the 2020 Copa del Rey final. But then he missed the World Cup 2022 due to a serious knee injury.

So when Alvaro Morata needed to be replaced midway through the second half, it was not Real Madrid’s Champions League winner Joselu to whom de la Fuente turned. Instead, it was a player the coach knows well and trusts. Then, when the moment came, the race time was great, just staying onside, and the finish was true and unstoppable.

The coach’s confidence returned with one of the most important goals in Spanish football history.

Dermot Corrigan

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Bellingham switched off for the first goal – but made up for it with an assist from Palmer

The finals of major tournaments are for heroes and villains.

Jude Bellingham has often been a former player for England, but he did not choose Dani Carvajal or Yamal for the opener.

England moved to a more attacking 4–4–2 press by removing Rodri (Phil Foden was man-marking him), using Bellingham as a left midfielder in that shape. The right-sided rotation has been a feature of Spain’s play throughout the tournament, with Yamal coming inside and Carvajal going forward.

Bellingham allowed Carvajal to advance…

…and called for a defender to come forward to mark Yamal, although Luke Shaw was left two-vs-one here.

Bellingham was caught not marking the full-backs or wingers. Spain’s combination was sharp – from Robin le Normand to Carvajal, from the inside to Yamal…

…who then dribbled and provided the perfect pass to Williams on the opposite sideline.

In Bellingham fashion, he fully atoned for that error with the help of Palmer’s equalizer (plus, he won nine of 14 ground duels throughout the game and nutmegged Rodri).

He spent most of the game against Spain’s midfielders, and made contact setting the ball back for Palmer to fire into the bottom corner.

At just 21, Bellingham continues to step up when needed in finals for club and country. His biggest strength is being able to play what the game demands and it showed again in Berlin. Who else?

Liam Thurmey

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Free-scoring Spain deserves to be tournament winner

Williams’ opening goal was Spain’s 14th goal of the tournament, more than they had scored in any European Championship or World Cup, and tied 1984 winners France for top scorer in Euro history. The conqueror of Oyarzabal led them forward.

Spain won three out of three in the group stage – starting with a 3–0 win over Croatia, then beating Italy 1–0 and, with qualification already secured, a 1–0 defeat of Albania. .

For Spain the drama really began in the knockout stage.

Georgia took an unexpected lead and evoked memories of defeats to Russia and Morocco in the tournament, before Rodri equalized and Spain won in the second half. There were hopes of a comeback against Germany in the quarter-finals, but they were defeated in the knockouts. A defeat to France in the semi-finals, but with the help of wonderful goals from Yamal and Dani Olmo they made it to the final.

Own goals are not included

After Williams’ beautifully composed and neatly scored goal against England, Spain did not sit back. They could have easily made it 2-0, with Williams, Olmo and Yamal all having good shots, and Jordan Pickford making a good save from the Barcelona teenager. The trio then combined to create another chance for Yamal, which was again pushed away by the Everton goalkeeper.

With extra time looming, it was Spain looking to win the game within 90 minutes. And with four minutes remaining, the winner came, with substitute striker Oyarzabal getting a superb finish from Mark Cucurella’s cross.

No one had scored 15 goals in a European Championship until the arrival of de la Fuente’s young, exciting and ambitious Spain team, and their aggressive approach resulted in a trophy.

Dermot Corrigan

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Rodri’s injury doesn’t derail Spain in Berlin

Rodri had to work very hard in the first 45 minutes of the game; As always, impressive from his position in midfield.

Yamal had an early half chance when Rodri robbed Foden in the England half. The Manchester City midfielder also prevented Bellingham from breaking a few times with good interventions near halfway.

Rodri was also in action near his box when needed. At the start of half-time, he pounced to block Declan Rice’s 25-yard shot, and near half-time he again threw himself into the path of Harry Kane’s effort from the edge of the penalty area.

However, that intervention was Rodri’s final contribution in the game. The stretch resulted in a hamstring strain, causing his body to give up in what was his 63rd appearance in a super-long season.

Real Sociedad’s much less experienced but highly rated Martin Zubimendi came on and almost immediately Spain were ahead. Zubimendi’s role was now to help Spain control the ball and the game. The Basque did not view that role negatively, soon beginning to drive forward, causing a foul on John Stones, which led to the England defender being booked.

More often than not, however, Zubimendi moved into a position in front of his back four, kept it simple with the ball, Fabian Ruiz was often close, and continued his excellent tournament with more subtle and accurate passing. It was looking good as Spain looked to extend their 1-0 lead, but when the ball fell to Palmer on the edge of the box and left a hole the size of Rodri, Zubimendi was no closer to stopping the equaliser. .

Dermot Corrigan

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Battle between Shaw and Yamal

It was a big call for England coach Gareth Southgate to name Shaw in the starting eleven for the first time this summer, and it was his first start of any kind since February due to injury.

Shaw has the small task of looking after European football’s most electric player, Yamal, who has lit up the competition with his creative threat and tremendous striking ability. There was a case to be made that Kieran Trippier might (eventually) have been a better option on the night, with Yamal likely to get in on Trippier’s stronger right foot, but a fit-again Shaw made a brilliant start as he largely contained the teenager. Kept a quiet first half.

He held Yamal tightly and ensured that the 17-year-old rarely had room to stretch his legs and create any momentum in the game. Crucially, Shaw forced Yamal to think about his defensive responsibilities as well as his attacking duties, with the England left-back offering to push forward on those occasions when Southgate’s men went forward. .

However, Yamal doesn’t need many opportunities to punish you. Within seconds of the start of the second half, Shaw passed Yamal, who spun backwards to receive the ball from Carvajal.Shaw’s challenge rejected, aAnd played a full-weight pass to Williams for a first down.

Having a naturally left-footed player at left-back was bound to provide greater balance to the England team, and Southgate knew that selecting Shaw in the squad was a decision taken for the latter stages of the tournament, as his There was an injury problem. True to his word, he trusted Shaw – the only starter to score in a European Championship final – on the biggest stage of all.

Shaw performed largely well, but Yamal needed just a moment to make his mark on the competition.

mark carey

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Kane had to struggle again for England

Kane has had many moments this tournament – ​​the winner against Slovakia, his nervy penalty to equalize against the Netherlands, but this has not been a competition where he has been at his best.

In the final, their movement was as tight as it has been throughout the tournament, with Spain’s centre-backs able to press aggressively without worrying about running in behind them. An early yellow card, and struggling to find teammates with his hold-up play, were due for Southgate to make an early change.

It was accelerated when Williams scored just after half time. The next 10 minutes passed, Kane did not get the ball and Southgate took action. Ollie Watkins, who had come off the bench and scored a 90th-minute winner against the Dutch in the semi-final, replaced the England captain after an hour. Kane’s last action was to throw up his hands in anger when Foden’s cross was missed and handed the armband to Kyle Walker.

Southgate’s second move was to bring on Palmer in place of Kobi Manu in the 70th minute, moving Bellingham into midfield – and introducing the creator of the semi-final goal onto the pitch. Just three minutes after Palmer came on – a moment for England. Bukayo Saka was played into space on the right, and his inside ball found Bellingham. The Real Madrid player was calm to pass the ball to Palmer – but the Chelsea player was even calmer, taking small steps to ensure he stayed on top of the ball and into the net from 25 yards.

England have equalized in the fourth consecutive knockout match in Euro 2024.

jacob whitehead

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(Top photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)