Euro 2024: This is the Final We All Wanted!

Spain vs England

Okay well, I may be speaking for Spain and England fans here, including me and my SBOTOP writing mate James, but this Sunday the world will stop and watch as La Roja and the Three Lions get it on in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin.

Fans in France, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands will certainly wish they were involved but no-one can deny the Spain and England deserve to be there, for slightly different reasons. Under Luis de La Fuente La Roja have been the most exciting team at the Euros, scoring 13 goals while conceding three. And though England have stuttered and stumbled through to the final, under Gareth Southgate they are in a second consecutive Euro final and a third major semi-final in six years.

So Spain are arguably the best side in the competition but England have been knocking on the door for a few years and that makes this one of the most eagerly anticipated finals in modern history.

Talking Points

Olmo was Spain’s hidden gem

La Roja’s Euro 2024 results have been perfect, with six wins from six, and they reached the final by beating France 2-1, with goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo. Barcelona’s 16-year-old wonderkid Lamal has grabbed the headlines, not least with his stunning equaliser against France, a 25-yard beauty which curled at pace into the top left corner.

But it is Olmo who has been the biggest asset in Spain’s impressive armoury. Red Bull Leipzig’s 26 year old attacking midfielder is a clever player, with superb vision and tricky ball skills as he showed brilliantly when he turned a French defender before firing a cross shot in to take La Roja to the final. In the race for the Golden Boot Olmo is one of six players on three goals, including Harry Kane, and he also has two assists to his name; and he’ll be looking for more in Berlin on Sunday.

England can’t rely on one moment of genius

It may be a little harsh on England, Gareth Southgate, and his coaching team but it’s hard to deny that the Three Lions have failed to roar for most of this campaign, and some mystifying tactics and performances have been rescued by individual moments of brilliance…not to say they weren’t planned on the training ground of course.

In the Round of 16 England were seconds away from going home when Jude Bellingham scored a spectacular scissor kick on 95 minutes. In the quarter final against Switzerland they trailed on 80 minutes when Bukayo Saka cut in and fired a leveller in off the post to take the game to extra time and penalties.

Ollie Watkins’ 90^th minute goal to win the semi-final against the Netherlands was a brilliant finish, the type Aston Villa fans have seen all season. So England do have a special moment in them, but if they don’t play consistently well for 90 minutes, they could be two or three down when the chance comes.

History

Spain are three times European Champions, firstly back in 1964 and then during the recent golden era in 2008 and 2016, whereas the closest England came was in 2021 when they lost the final on penalties to Italy.

This is the first time the Three Lions have reached a major finals on foreign soil and, if they can see it through, it would undoubtedly be the proudest moment in English football since their 1966 World Cup triumph. And previous meetings give them an even chance, with six wins each for England and Spain. They last met in 2018 in the UEFA Nations League when Spain won 2-1 in England but Southgate’s men got heir revenge with a 3-2 win in Spain a month later.

Betting Tip

The Euro 2024 betting odds pitched the Three Lions as one of the favourites at the start of the tournament, but there has been a turnaround and Southgate’s team enters the final as underdogs at a price of 3.04, with Spain at odds of 2.49 and the draw in 90 minutes priced at 2.70. But England fans can take solace in the fact that they were the favourites going into the 2020 final, but they were mugged by Italy!

Finals are often battles of attrition with nerves attacking the players and each side fearing a defeat, but this game has a different dynamic to it. Spain play on the front foot and have a brilliant forward line, while England seemed to throw off the shackles against the Netherlands, in the first half anyway, and if there is a relatively early goal I expect and hope we’ll have three or more.

A 2-1 win for Spain is available at 8.68 while England are priced at 10.60 to win by that score line.

Take your pick!

 

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