SCENES: Spain WIN EURO 2024 as England lose their second-straight final

Spain, champions of Europe yet again and the best team won it. Once more this zestful football nation has come to the party and danced the most beautiful dance. They are show business, they're young, they're fresh, they're free, they're champions and England are crestfallen. Played 7-1-7, the beautiful smile of youth, the beautiful football of this Iberian nation which has decorated the tournament and which now has won the tournament. Floods of tears, a pile of joy and so Spain become the first four-time champions of Europe and the length and breadth of that beautiful country. They will dance all night, Spain triumphant, winners over England in Berlin by two goals to one. We'll kick off the fiesta, Spain are the champions of Europe for the fourth time, something no other nation in the continent has managed to do and it's heartbreak again England becoming the first side to lose two Euro finals in succession. I mean it's heartbreak but really looking at the match that second half Spain created more chances didn't they? Yeah looking at the match, looking at the overall tournament, Spain are deserved winners. They were outstanding all tournament, they played great football, created chances all the time and that second half they really lifted a gear and created those opportunities that gave them that chance to win the game. Yeah and when you look at the two games, Germany they came back where Germany took the momentum, here England had the momentum at 1-1 and they still came back. They calmed it down, they found a way, fantastic bit of passing and cross into Olazabal, fantastic goal to win it. Yeah like you said John, they have deservedly won this tournament by seven wins. And we spoke about you know the subs that Gareth Southgate was making, made good impact again today with Parma but Dele Fuente, his subs made great impact in previous games as well when Olmo came on, made good impact and today Olazabal comes on, Marino against Germany, always the subs that he was making at the right times. We were saying Marata was playing well but Olazabal comes in, he's got freshness on the last line for that ball from Cucaracha and that was a great ball, great delivery, early ball just on side. Yeah and we cannot forget Super Mendy coming in at halftime, we were sitting here, massive downgrade, I thought he did fantastic in the second half, you're missing Rodri, you know so this is like this Spanish team you know off the bench you know they've had impact players, Marino obviously scoring against Germany, again Olazabal coming off the bench here, you know so all around fantastic performance, Nico Williams, you know that first goal was superb as well. And what I loved about this Spanish side as well is that they always, if the opposition changed it up, they would still play their football, they'd find a way, it was more about their principles of play other than when you talk about systems, they found space, they know how to shift the opposition to find space on that first goal that Nico Williams, the way that they actually played that ball forward, it was quick passes forward, able to shift the English back line and Nico Williams great finish. Well there you go, the trophy is being engraved, this is why we love and I sometimes hate football because it's too extreme emotions for those players, the wait continues for England, 58 years and counting since their last major trophy. 60 years since the first time and for the third time in the 21st century, truly this is an era which they have drunk in with pride and many of the great European luminaries, we've got a little shot there of the wonderfully enigmatic and skillful Zlatan Ibrahimović, looking down and appreciating what this cohort have done and you said prior to kickoff, Don, as the game was about to start and quite rightly this lot were assumed to be the team of next time maybe, this was a young cohort starting, they weren't perhaps quite ready to win it, they've won it. They absolutely have, we keep reiterating deservedly, so I mean look, it's a new generation, it's a new Spain, it's been hard really, they've had to go through some tough times really after having that incredible group of players that won them three major tournaments, they've had to be patient but they have that next generation in the making, of course the one or two of them that are just running towards the back end of their careers but they have got some serious talent and I think people will be talking about them in the next major tournament as possible favourites, not many did this time. And it proves again that how it finishes matters so much more for individuals certainly than how it started, Dani Olmo there, key to this victory and those that went before, he was not in the first 11 and the match winner, the winner of the final, Mikel Olafarbal from the bench, substitutes as Don was rightly saying through the game, have been fundamental not just for the Spaniards in this tournament but crucially in the game of games, absolutely fundamental, Morata gave way and as it turns out, willingly so. Yeah, I'm not sure how much he would have been able to enjoy it until that final whistle went but he spoke before the game what it would mean to him, Alvaro Morata and he is going to get his hands on the greatest prize when you rattle off the teams that Spain have beaten in this tournament, Croatia, Italy, a tough Albania, Georgia who were brilliant but Germany, France and England to win it, they've done it the hard way, they've done it because they've played the best football, they have been truly outstanding. And for English football supporters of almost every age, almost every age, those facial expressions are just so grimly so sadly familiar, for 60 years this is how it has ended for England, one way or another by hooker by crook, so often in the relatively recent past quarterfinal then semi-final and now finals one after another and the finishing line remains cruelly elusive. I do feel they'll have regrets England really, I think they obviously were fearful of what Spain could bring to the table but I don't really ever think they imposed themselves at any point in the game, okay they got a brilliant equaliser but then they seemed to retreat again which was what had been costly for me in the first place, they were resilient as they have been the whole tournament but on the night simply no match for Did you enjoy that? There's so much more so why not hit subscribe and download the Optus Sport app.