BERLIN (Reuters) – If Marc Guehi’s last-gasp header had hit the net maybe England would have gone on to become European champions on Sunday but instead Dani Olmo cleared off the line and it was Spain who took the glory and handed Gareth Southgate another agonising defeat.
Having come from behind for the fourth game in a row and seemingly on course to take the final to extra time, England were sunk by Mikel Oyarzabal’s 86th-minute strike in a 2-1 loss as they suffered a second successive final defeat after going down on penalties to Italy at Wembley three years ago.
Spain deserved to win Sunday’s showpiece match – England coming alive only after falling behind – but the jury remains out on Southgate.
His record speaks for itself in terms of getting England to the latter stages of tournaments in the last six years, but critics will say that having got so close he could have done even better with a bit more bravery in his selections.
After Sunday’s loss Southgate admitted captain Harry Kane was below his best following an injury but he had continued to pick him while Cole Palmer, who equalised in the final, remained a substitute despite being England’s most creative player all month.
England came into the tournament as favourites, with Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden freshly crowned as players of the year in Spain and England respectively, Kane with 44 goals to his name at Bayern Munich and Declan Rice on fire.
They faced a group containing Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia and most observers were assuming there would be a smooth path through the round of 16 for a potential quarter-final showdown with France.
That did not come off – due to France’s struggles – and though England duly won the group with five points and got past Slovakia in their first knockout game, it was anything but the cruise widely expected.
BRIGHT START
They started brightly against Serbia but lost their way in a 1-0 win and though England led again against Denmark, they did little else in a 1-1 draw.
That turned out to be enough to guarantee their progress, and perhaps that was a contributory factor to a flaccid goalless draw with Slovenia that had disgruntled fans jeering the team and some even throwing plastic cups at Southgate.
The coach seemed genuinely bemused by the reaction, having qualified while conceding one goal, and he pointed to the struggles of several of the other big nations.
But the statistics told a harsh story, with England managing to score twice as they ranked 20th of the 24 teams in terms of goal attempts.
England fans turned up for the last-16 game against Slovakia thinking “well at least we can’t be that bad again” and they were right – the team were worse.
Trailing to an early goal for the side ranked 44th in the world, they failed to muster a shot on target until Bellingham rescued them with his spectacular scissors kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Kane duly won it in extra-time with England’s only other on-target attempt but even then they appeared overawed and ended up hanging on desperately.
Southgate’s reluctance to make changes left fans and pundits speechless, and throwing on striker Ivan Toney with one minute left to play for many epitomised the conservatism that he similarly showed when the 2018 World Cup semi-final and Euro 2020 final started slipping away after strong starts.
END PRODUCT
England were better, but still with little end product, in the quarter-final against Switzerland, where they went behind again, levelled through Bukayo Saka and then, with a supreme confidence never seen before, smashed home all five penalties to win the shootout after Jordan Pickford saved from Manuel Akanji.
Then came an amazing first half against the Netherlands in England’s third semi-final in four tournaments when they equalised via a fortunate Kane penalty.
However, this was no laboured edge over the line as England’s all star attacking lineup finally showed their teeth in a terrific display that left the Dutch grateful to turn around level.
England lost some drive in the second half but won it with a superb last-minute striker’s finish by Ollie Watkins after being set up by fellow substitute Palmer as Southgate showed he had learned lessons and made telling substitutions earlier in the game.
It sent them into a second successive Euros final against a Spain team who had won all their games, most of them convincingly, with Southgate demanding that his side played without fear.
They were organised and solid in the first half but lost their bearings defensively in the second for both goals.
England finished on the front foot, with Guehi’s header joining a long list of “almost” moments, but ultimately fell just short again.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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