England suffered European Championship heartbreak once again as Spain struck late to condemn the Three Lions to another devastating defeat in a major final. Substitute Mikel Oyarzabal managed to remain onside to convert four minutes from full-time.
Cole Palmer rose from the bench and might have believed he had forced extra-time with a long-range strike that found the corner of Unai Simon’s goal. For a period after the Chelsea star’s goal, England were the better side.
A tight first-half saw both teams head back to the dressing room’s with the scoreline goalless. England will have had their spirits lifted by the substitution of the Manchester City star Rodri at half-time.
The defensive midfielder has lost just once game in which he has featured in over a year. He was one of Spain’s best players throughout the tournament and his team lacked as much control in the second half.
But even without Rodri and fellow injured midfielder Pedri, Spain took the game to England and led just 69 seconds into the second period. Nico Williams was left free at the back post to convert after clever work from the 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal.
Dani Olmo went close to scoring moments later in what would have surely wrapped up the final in Spain’s favour. Gareth Southgate responded by taking off captain Harry Kane in the 60th minute, with the striker’s tournament punctuated by performances in which he did not seem fully fit.
Palmer replaced Kobbie Mainoo and made an immediate impact. The 22-year-old ran onto Bellingham’s lay-off and fired low into the corner of the net, via a slight deflection.
But it was not to be for England. The knee of John Stones kept Ozaryabal onside, and the forward poked the ball beyond Jordan Pickford. Even after that England went close, with Declan Rice seeing a strong header saved and Marc Guehi’s rebound was cleared off the line.
Kane reflected afterwards: “It’s extremely painful and it will hurt for a long time. It’s hard to put into words how we’re all feeling.
“To concede late on is really tough to take. It’s an opportunity missed. These finals aren’t easy to get to. You have to take it when it comes and we haven’t done it again.
“We couldn’t quite use that momentum to push on and we couldn’t quite keep the ball and we got punished for it towards the end of the game. It’s just painful as it can be in a football match.”
Spain’s Rodri was named the best player of the tournament and said: “What a day, surely the best day of my sporting career. We have been a family, now we are the most successful team in the Euros.
“There was talk about the previous generations that marked the path for us and now we are champions of Europe. An incredible day for everyone.”
“We have made history, we have beaten four world champions in one tournament. The mentality of this team… many of us were European champions with the youth teams and today we are European champions.”
While his team-mate Lamine Yamal added: “Very happy, it’s a dream. The best gift I could have had, this is a dream, I want to go with my family now to celebrate it.
“When they equalised they put a lot of pressure on us, but this team, no matter how we are, we always come back and end up winning. My team-mates help me a lot and I am very comfortable with them and very happy.”
And Marc Cucurella said: “We’ve been quiet and we’ve done our thing on the field and we’ve won. We know how to play football but we know how to suffer as a family, at the beginning we were players and now we are a family.”