England’s Gareth Southgate Reflects on EURO 2024 Final Loss to Spain
New Delhi [India], July 15: After England’s 2-1 defeat against Spain in the EURO 2024 final, head coach Gareth Southgate shared his thoughts on the match. The final took place at the Olympiastadion Berlin, where Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal scored for Spain, and Cole Palmer scored for England.
Speaking to ITV Sport, Southgate mentioned that England had some issues before the tournament but managed to address most of them. He said, “There’s no hiding we’ve had some issues coming into the tournament, we’ve managed to deal with most of them and got Luke [Shaw] out tonight, but we’ve just fallen short in the end. It’s probably both [a success and a missed opportunity], frankly. The players have got to take enormous credit to get us to the point we did, but when you get as close as that you’ve got to take your chances.”
Southgate praised Spain’s control of the game, saying, “The character, the resilience they’ve shown, I just think tonight we didn’t keep the ball well enough. They had more control of the game, and that was probably the main difference. I just think that against Spain, they press well, and you have to keep the ball when you win it back. Defensively, we were fine in the first half, you just have to retain the ball a little bit better. In the end, maybe that’s the bit that takes a little bit out.”
England struggled with possession, holding only 34% of the ball compared to Spain’s 66%. Spain took 16 shots, with six on target, while England managed nine shots, with four on target. The first half saw both teams defending well, each with only one shot on target. Spain took the lead early in the second half with a goal from Nico Williams, and England equalized in the 73rd minute. However, Mikel Oyarzabal’s goal in the 86th minute secured Spain’s fourth Euro title.
