Jude Bellingham was a ‘symbol’ of England‘s frustration during their Euro 2024 final loss to Spain, L’Equipe have claimed – with Harry Kane hit with a lowly rating.
Goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal condemned the Three Lions to a painful loss in Berlin last night and extended their trophy drought to 60 years.
Cole Palmer had levelled the scores shortly after being introduced in the second half but Oyarzabal’s close-range finish after Marc Cucurella‘s cross was enough to inflict another European Championship final setback on Gareth Southgate‘s side.
In the aftermath, the foreign press delivered a mixed verdict on England’s display.
French outlet L’Equipe believe Bellingham, moved into a left-sided role for much of the game to free up Phil Foden, encapsulated his country’s woes, claiming that the superstar will be ‘eager to leave’ both the result and the tournament behind him.
They have also tipped the midfielder to head off on holiday ‘frustrated’.
Striker Kane, hauled off on the hour mark after another ineffectual performance and replaced by semi-final hero Ollie Watkins, was also placed in the spotlight with L’Equipe, known to be brutal with their ratings, handing him a lowly 3/10.
‘Clearly tired, the Bayern Munich player made a series of bad choices, missing several passes that annihilated his team’s attacks, picking up a deserved yellow card for an avoidable foul on Fabian Ruiz and being too short on a cross,’ they wrote.
‘The captain was logically replaced in the 61st minute by Watkins.’
Kyle Walker, Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo were also criticised with the trio given a 4 while the highest England mark, just a 6, was meted out to five of Southgate’s players – Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Bellingham.
Unsurprisingly, the Spanish front pages gleefully toasted the victory.
Marca placed a large photo of the trophy lift across their entire spread alongside the headline: ‘The Invincible Armada’, showcased in an eye-catching yellow.
AS adopted a similar design with a photo of Spain’s players, coaching staff, King Felipe and Infanta Sofia celebrating on the podium stretched out on both pages. Their large headline roughly translates as: ‘Spain is in glory’.
Sport used their front page to salute the achievements of both their football team and Carlos Alcaraz, who defended his Wimbledon crown after beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets yesterday, hailing them as ‘super champions’.
Mundo Deportivo similarly split their page into two with Spain’s trophy lift on the top half and a snap of Alcaraz kissing his Wimbledon trophy across the bottom.
‘Champions!’ their simple headline read.
England boss Southgate, meanwhile, insisted he would not consider his future so soon after the final but plans to hold discussions to make a decision.
‘Now is not the time for me to speak about that,’ he said post-match. ‘I need to talk to the right people and give myself a bit of time.
‘To get to another final… it was a privilege to have the opportunity. But to come up short is hard at the moment.’