New Delhi [India], July 15 : After his side's defeat against Spain in the final match of EURO 2024, England head coach Gareth Southgate said that the Three Lions had fallen short at the end of the tournament.
England conceded a 2-1 defeat against Spain in the final of EURO 2024 at the Olympiastadion Berlin. Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal scored the goals for the Spaniard. While super sub Cole Palmer was the lone scorer for the Three Lions.
Speaking to ITV Sport, Southgate said that England had some issues before coming to the tournament, but managed to deal with them later in the tournament.
"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 was quoted by Sky Sports as saying.
He also showered praise on Spain and accepted that the Spaniards had more control of the game.
"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," he added.
England became the first team to lose the final two consecutive times.
England's struggle to keep possession in their favour against a team like Spain came back to haunt them in the final. Throughout the game, they only had a 34 per cent share of the ball in comparison to Spain's 66.
Spain made most of the ball share and racked up 16 shots, with six on target. In reply, England fired nine shots, with four of them ending up on the target.
In the first half, both teams defended well and could only muster up a shot each on target. Spain put their foot on the accelerator and took the lead moments after the second half began. Lamine Yamal with a brilliant piece of play on the right, found Willams in the open space on the other end. The youngster effortlessly slotted it into the back of the net.
England eventually managed to equalise in the 73rd minute following a first-time shot. Neville felt that England's lack of ability to control the game could have seen them trail by more goals before the equaliser.
In the 86th minute, Oyarzabal poked the ball into the back of the net to seal Spain's fourth Euro title.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor