Mikel Oyarzabal struck Spain’s Euro 2024 final winner against England on Sunday, but La Roja’s triumph was inspired from start to finish by explosive wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal.
The youngsters have been key on their side’s run to the final in Berlin and combined to send Spain ahead against England, a moment that felt fitting given their supreme summer.
Williams’ well-taken strike gave Spain a deserved lead and the duo both came close to extending it before Cole Palmer’s equalizer for England.
Photo: AFP
Yamal, 17, and Williams, 22, who both celebrated birthdays in the days ahead of the final, have given Spain an exciting cutting edge in attack they have lacked for much of the last decade, pulling the team to a record fourth European Championship triumph.
Spain previously last won a major trophy in 2012, ending a golden era that saw them lift the Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup trophies.
Since then, they have struggled in the wilderness, both on the field and more recently off of it, too, because of their crisis-hit Royal Spanish Football Federation.
This summer many did not consider them among the top favorites to lift the trophy, but Yamal and Williams’ flair and contagious spirit added vital spark to a national team known for their ability to dominate possession.
Yamal became the youngest ever Euros goalscorer at 16 in the semi-final triumph over France with a brilliant long-range effort and was named young player of the tournament after Spain’s triumph.
“This is the best [birthday] present I could have, it’s a dream,” said Yamal after winning the first trophy of his short career.
Williams was instrumental in the group stage win over Euro 2020 winners Italy and shone in the last 16 victory over Georgia where Spain came from behind to triumph.
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said the pair had a “gift from god” earlier in the tournament and he deserves credit for choosing to deploy both, rather than opting for a more cautious path.
As a result, Spain did not always end up with more of the ball than their opponents, but that did not matter to them or their fans as they celebrated with the trophy.
Despite their superb performances leading up to the final, De la Fuente’s young Spain side, many playing in the biggest match of their careers, failed to hit their stride in the first half against England.
Gareth Southgate’s cautious team stifled them to an extent, but La Roja also showed some nerves, misplacing some passes, making more errors in precision than on the road to the Olympiastadion.
Yamal, the youngest ever player to play in a Euros or World Cup final, initially struggled to impose himself on Luke Shaw, despite it being the Manchester United defender’s first start since February.
The England coach switched his system to 4-2-3-1 to ensure there was less space for Spain’s wingers to take advantage of, and for a while it worked.
However, they came out for the second half renewed, encouraged by their coach, and quickly reaped the reward.
Yamal surged in from the right and looked for Williams with a cutting low pass into the area. The Athletic Bilbao winger caressed the ball beyond Jordan Pickford and into the far corner — an assured finish.
It was the 22-year-old’s second goal of the tournament and Yamal’s fourth assist, the most this summer with several other players tied on two.
“I wanted the game to end there and then, but it didn’t, we had to suffer, we suffered like animals,” Williams told reporters.
Williams fed Dani Olmo who dragged wide and then hammered a low drive inches past the post, offering Spain’s biggest threat by far.
Yamal played a cute pass for Alvaro Morata, but Spain’s captain could not find a clean finish.
In the end it was substitute Oyarzabal who settled the game, but Spain’s successful campaign will rightly be remembered for their swashbuckling wingers.
“Lamine is incredible, no? He won young player of the tournament. He’s showing it day to day — I don’t think he’s got a ceiling,” said Williams, who was named player of the match.
“He’s a very good person, too,” Williams added.
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