Jordan Pickford fought back the tears following England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final. Luis de la Fuente’s side netted a late winner against the Three Lions at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Sunday evening, waltzing away 2-1 victors.
Nico Williams put La Roja ahead shortly after half-time before Cole Palmer pulled one back with just over a quarter of an hour left to play. Then, in the final moments of the clash, Mikel Oyarzabal beat Pickford at his near post with an excellent finish to secure Spain their fourth European Championship.
Gareth Southgate’s side almost found an equaliser in the dying embers, with a header from Marc Guehi nodded off the line by Dani Olmo. Despite a late push, England couldn’t take the final to extra-time, crushing the dreams of millions across the country.
Following the final whistle, Pickford was spotted with his hands over his face and clearly emotional. Speaking to ITV after the game, the Everton man said: “They gave us a sucker punch towards the end. Just devastated.
“It’s taken the soul out of me, to be honest. There are no more words really, I’ve given it my all. I think we’ve all given it our all.”
Then, speaking in an interview with BBC, Pickford said: “We have had 14 matches at the Euros and that’s the first time we have lost in normal time,” he told the BBC. “We have been on a hell of a journey but now we’re devastated. There is nothing more to say.
“We have created some history without winning anything over the past eight years. We’ve had our ups and downs but our end goal is still to be winners. We have got to reflect on how we get better in these moments and hopefully learn from it.”
Speaking to reporters, Southgate offered his verdict on the clash. The England boss said: “We didn’t keep the ball well enough. You have to keep the ball when you win it back. In the end, that’s the bit that takes more out of your legs.”
He added: “I’m devastated, so proud of what they’ve done. We’ve just fallen a bit short. No question [there was resilience], we had momentum. Probably, across the 90 minutes, I don’t think we did enough.
“We’ve had a lot of issues coming into the tournament, we got Luke on tonight. But at the end we’ve fallen short I think the players will take enormous credit for getting us to where we did but when you’re as close as that, you have to take your chances.”