Congratulations to Spain!
And so it came to pass that Spain beat England 2-1 in the final of the 2024 European Championship. This is a result to add to the memories of Spain I’ve acquired by living there for much of the past year. I haven’t seen every match of the tournament but there’s no doubt in my mind that Spain played consistently the best football, and are worthy Champions. England ran them close in the final, though. Despite Spain having about 66% of the possession it took a very late goal to win it.
So football’s not coming home after all. Evidently it’s still on sabbatical…
I feel a bit sorry for the manager Gareth Southgate. He may not have won a trophy with England (yet) but he’s taken them further in more competitions than most of his predecessors. He attracted a great deal of criticism for his cautious approach in the earlier stages of this competition which he dealt with in a remarkably dignified way. All that eased off a bit when England got to the knockout stage, but I suspect it may come back. Will he put up with it for another two years until the 2026 World Cup?
As for Spain, this is the fourth time they have been European Champions; England have never won this competition. The Spanish squad is very youthful squad too, including the brilliant teenager Lamine Yamal. Nico Williams had a superb tournament too.
P.S. This evening’s match was broadcast live on RTÉ so I watched it at home. By contrast, yesterday’s rugby between Ireland and the Springboks was not available on a free channel so I was forced against my will to watch it in a pub. I’m glad I did!
P.P.S the choice of schedule leading up to the Euros final is interesting:
In the Dark 
July 14, 2024 at 10:53 pm
as a good Bayesian look at this prior: Since May 2001, Spanish teams have played in 27 major finals (Champions League, Europa League, World Cup, Euros). There has been a Spanish winner in all 27 finals.
July 14, 2024 at 11:08 pm
The key to this success is patience, keeping possession of the ball, and passing accurately. England lost tonight because they were outplayed in these key respects.
July 14, 2024 at 11:18 pm
Not sure about your sums though! Spain has only won one of the six World Cup finals played since 2001. Or did you mean games against England?
July 14, 2024 at 11:41 pm
i meant exactly what I wrote. All finals they have played they won in the four major competitions including national clubs. I think roughly 23+23+6+6 , maybe off by two or so as I am too drunk, so circa 50% of all possible titles counting both national team and clubs.
July 14, 2024 at 11:42 pm
Ah right. I understand now.
July 15, 2024 at 9:49 am
And Carlos Alcaraz kept his Wimbledon title; a good day for Spanish sport.
I stayed on in London after England’s early victory against West Indies at Lords, and caught up with friends before taking my pre-booked train back to Crewe during the football match. A good decision.
July 15, 2024 at 5:09 pm
I’d completely forgotten about the tennis!
July 15, 2024 at 12:06 pm
Hard to feel pity for someone paid £4M per year….
July 15, 2024 at 12:24 pm
I think that’s a bit harsh. I mean, have you ever tried to live on £4M per year?
July 15, 2024 at 12:37 pm
No but am willing to try. I’d probably give some of it to a family that could not afford Sky TV. Sunak’s admission that he did not have Sky TV when young really affected me.