Spain's dynasty reigns supreme in Europe after beating England in Berlin
Spain made history in Berlin on 14 July 2024. Their fourth European Championship made them the only country with four titles and they can boast of reigning on the continent where football was invented, precisely by beating those who consider themselves the masters of the sport.
A month earlier, very few people believed in Luis de la Fuente's team. The disenchantment at the last World Cup in Qatar, the Rubiales hurricane and even a certain whiff of the former RFEF president Luis Rubiales, who was on the verge of being sacked after losing to Scotland in the group stage, did not give a good feeling. Someone kept him on because it was not the time for more scandals, although there was no desire to have him around after the famous applause.
All that was conveniently buried in Berlin. De la Fuente knew which players he trusted having spent years with them in Spain's youth teams. He knew that Laporte had not lost quality in Arabia, that Morata would not score goals, but that he was a reference point and a motivator for the rest of his teammates, that Cucurella hid all that football we saw in Germany and that Fabián was the perfect complement to Rodri. But there was more, all that bench that gave excellent results, including David Raya playing a great game against Albania.
Spain's finals were against Germany and France. The England game was the final stage. The one that no one doubted would go well because football could not reward whatever Southgate and his team played. Spain had their share of luck. The kind of luck found in those who have a plan, who train as one team and where there is not a single bad face for playing little or nothing. Against Germany, the luck was in scoring first and warning that Spain was there, but also in Mikel Merino repeating his father's feat in 119 and avoiding the fate of penalties.
Against France, coming from behind in five minutes was good, but Yamal's drive into the top corner to take away Spain's ghosts of the past when the Gauls went 1-0 up was also a perfect stroke of luck. The kind that you train for hours and then it's there when you need it most.
Spain breathed in the final. The tension of the quarter-finals and semi-finals was such a learning curve that all that remained was to wait for the first goal against England. It came early in the second half thanks to Williams. A country in tension because their perfect machine had been unplugged. Rodri to the bench and the heart in a fist. England don't know how to score goals. Even Kane is not enough and he ended up on the bench in the 60th minute. Palmer gave the English some air and a mistake by the Spanish defence led to their goal in the 70th minute.
That didn't unnerve Spain either. There was nothing to faze that team stitched together by De la Fuente. They just had to wait, play, propose and for Cucurella to put a measured ball to Oyarzábal. A goal that the VAR could spoil with the precision of automatic offside. Just millimetres and a knee from the English defender made the goal valid in the 86th minute to Spanish delirium.
It all ended in a historic party on the pitch where Pedro Rocha kept his nerve and did not give any more kisses than he should have. Felipe VI and Infanta Sofia were in the box with Prince William. UEFA sent Pedro Sánchez several rows further back and did not let him go down to the medal ceremony. Some say it was protocol and others say it was a warning against future interference in the RFEF.
The fourth is already Spain's. Before, Vicente del Bosque, Luis Aragonés and José Villalonga crowned Spain as the best team in the Old Continent. Now it is Luis de la Fuente who knows the way to do something great in 2026.
