Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Euro 24 Final: No Kane Do… Trophy’s Not Coming Home As Spain Prove Lion Tamers; Southgate Resigns

Harry Kane has still not won a trophy in his storied career. England has still not won a major international tournament since 1966 after losing a second consecutive European Championship final on Sunday. Victorious Spain, meanwhile, claimed a record fourth European Championship, taming the Lions of England 2-1.

Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri was the Best Player of the tournament while 17-year-old phenom Lamine Yamal won the Best Young Player award. Nico Williams, who scored the final’s opening goal, also had a breakout tournament for the Spaniards on the opposite wing from Lamal. Spain midfielder Dani Almo was one of six players to jointly lead the tournament with three goals scored. Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella was also an unexpected major contributor to Spain’s winning run and assisted the winner on Sunday.

England, meanwhile, had a few brilliant individual moments this tournament but they were just momentary interruptions to long stretches of non-threatening and often disorganized play. The final match played out much as had most of England’s matches this tournament but for the gutting ending. The Three Lions began sluggishly, offering nothing in attack but managing to bring the normally energetic Spanish down to their own sleep-inducing level of play as the two clubs “battled” to a goalless, joyless first half. In a massive piece of good fortune for the English, Rodri was removed at halftime due to injury. It didn’t matter. England went behind for a fourth consecutive knockout match when 21-year-old Spanish winger Nico Williams scored just two minutes into the second half, Yamal finding his fellow winger for a tournament leading fourth assist. Those hoping England Manager Gareth Southgate might quickly counter and go to one of his super subs, would again be frustrated by the stubborn manager. An ineffective Harry Kane was finally given the hook for semifinal hero Ollie Watkins at the 61-minute mark, shortly after a petulant Jude Bellingham was seen shouting at the England coaching staff for some kind of change. Almost ten minutes later “Cold” Palmer would enter the fray and the young Chelsea star would take little more than two minutes to score an equalizer for England.

Unfortunately, however, the Lions would roar no more. Instead, it was another Premier League player who would help put a dagger in English hopes. Palmer’s Chelsea teammate and Spanish left back Marc Cucarella opened up the England defense, threading a picture-perfect assist to the foot of a sliding Mikal Oyarzabal who scored the 86th minute winner for La Roja. Fate would tease England one more time as Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi missed consecutive rapid-fire headers in the closing moments.

England’s snakebit international tournament form thus continued with neither manager nor players escaping the brickbats of supporters for the latest failure. Southgate’s tactics were again questionable, his lineups unbalanced, and his substitutions always seemed later than would be advised. Several stars underperformed and did not earn the minutes given by the always loyal Southgate. Manchester City’s Phil Foden is perhaps the poster child for underperforming stars, accomplishing nothing the entire tournament despite Southgate giving him more minutes than he deserved. Kane, who seemed to lumber with little effect for most of the tournament, at least found the net three times. Foden was admittedly playing out of position most of the time as Southgate was intent on shoehorning him into a lineup which included Jude Bellingham in Foden’s favored central position. Switching the positioning of Foden and Bellingham for the final, however, had little impact. Bellingham, like Kane, played poorly for most of the tournament but provided two iconic moments with his flying header to win the first group match and then his iconic bicycle kick which saved the day versus Slovakia in the Round of 16.

Entering the tournament, there was much concern over who would line up alongside Declan Rice in England’s midfield. As things played out, Rice was as much the problem himself, the Arsenal man proving careless with the ball even while seldom daring to go forward. Rice’s “go to” move this tournament was an oft-repeated back pass to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

There were a few England players who stepped up this tournament. Palmer and Watkins clearly capitalized on the minutes given them. Ivan Toney and Eberechi Eze also flashed in lesser cameos. Marc Guehi and John Stones were largely solid for England’s back line. Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo, though uninspiring in the final contest, showed promise of filling the gaping midfield hole lamented by Southgate before and during the tournament.

The England manager did not wait long to announce his resignation from the England post on Tuesday. His legacy is complicated. His style of play, sometimes undecipherable, would frustrate fans. He tended to stay with underperforming players seemingly out of a sense of loyalty. While Sunday’s loss to an impressive Spain side was less painful than the dashed golden opportunity versus Italy four years earlier, there remains a sense that a star-studded lineup once again fell short when victory was within its grasp. A squad which included the best of the Premier League also included the best player from both the Bundesliga (Kane) and La Liga (Bellingham). The draw this tournament was incredibly favorable and Sunday’s finals opponent lost its best player at halftime of a goalless game. The opportunity was great, but the performance was small as England again missed a chance to bring an international trophy back to the land of the game’s origin for the first time since 1966.

And yet Gareth Southgate’s accomplishments are second only to the manager of that World Cup champion, Alf Ramsey. Since that 1966 championship, England had won only seven  knockout matches in major tournament play. Southgate delivered nine such victories, taking England to the two European championship finals and semifinal and quarterfinal finishes in his two World Cups. Southgate also has been credited with restoring a positive culture around a program reeling upon his arrival in 2016 following the abrupt and messy departure of one match England Manager Sam Allardyce. It remains to be seen whether Southgate’s many critics among England supporters will rue what they wished for.

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