Spain began the tournament with a flourish and finished it lifting the Euro 2024 trophy high into the Berlin night sky, leaving few to dispute that the best team was rightly crowned 2024 European champions. Luis de la Fuente’s side had arrived in Germany behind the likes of France and England in betting for a tournament in which many observers doubted they had the goals in them to go all the way.
But from the moment they dismantled Croatia 3-0 in their opening group game they looked a cut above the rest, producing a series of classy displays of attacking panache and unveiling a clutch of young stars who could go on to dominate the international scene for a few years to come.
Euro 2024: Ridiculous Rodri
UEFA’s player of the tournament was Manchester City’s inspirational midfielder Rodri, the glue who held this excellent side together, but it was the cameos and match-winning moments from precocious aces such as Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Dani Olmo and Nico Williams which really caught the eye.
There are plenty more talented kids waiting in the wings in La Liga, ready to follow them into the first-team setup as De la Fuente begins his plans for the next World Cup in two years. Spain were excellent, playing seven games and winning them all, only once requiring extra-time, that to see off Germany in the quarter-finals.
They beat the holders Italy, the hosts Germany, the highly-rated French and then outclassed pre-tournament favourites England in the final, a match in which the 2-1 scoreline flattered the vanquished rather than the victors. Most teams had a high-class match or two in them but only Spain had that consistency which marked them down as likely champions from very early in the competition.
Euro 2024: Edgy England Disappoint
For England, it was yet another near-miss under Gareth Southgate, with his Lions becoming the first country to lose back-to-back European Championship finals. The fact they have come so close twice in three years hints at the progress made under a head coach who inherited a shambles when he took office, but it also left a nation hungry for overdue glory questioning why so many burgeoning Premier League stars either couldn’t or didn’t turn on the style on the biggest of stages.
England’s big names offered fleeting glimpses and a similar story was being told by France and Kylian Mbappe, the superstar who was supposed to lead Les Bleus to glory but whose tournament was all but ended by an early broken nose which hindered him throughout.
Euro 2024: Top Goalscorers
France reached the semis, so too did the Netherlands, while there was no last hurrah for 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who, even allowing for his passion, surely can’t have a seventh finals in him. Georgia, the tournament’s only newcomers, were surely thrilled to make it through to the knockout stage while for the first time since Euro 1980 all competing nations managed to get at least one point on the board.
And there was individual glory for Georgia, too, with striker Georges Mikautadze one of six players to score three goals and share the Golden Boot. The big prize, though, went to Spain, deservedly crowned kings of Europe for a record fourth time and with the promise of much, much more to come over the next few years.
By Tom Hill
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