La Roja have proved that you don’t have to be boring to win international trophies following their thrilling run in Germany
Sometimes football can be straightforward. Over the coming days, England’s Euro 2024 campaign will be relentlessly dissected from all angles – and there’s a lot to get through.
Why did Harry Kane move with the verve of an arthritis-stricken manatee all tournament, for example? Could we not have subjected Kieran Trippier to dangerous, experimental surgery to make him left-footed? And why did Declan Rice seem to forget England were playing in white in Berlin?
All of these posers are worthy of extensive analysis. However, the final itself can be understood fairly simply: Spain are a better football team than England, so they won.
La Roja’s triumph wasn’t down to having a vastly-superior talented squad, though. As we’ve heard so many times over the past year or so, this might just be the best Three Lions group in history, especially in terms of strength in depth, while Spain even had to fare without Player of the Tournament Rodri for the entirety of the second half.
Instead, Luis de la Fuente’s side’s emergence as the standout Euro 2024 team was a result of their brave playing style and well-balanced team selections. And it’s a campaign that the Football Association should look at closely as they map out the country’s likely post-Gareth Southgate future.