SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
After weeks of competition, we've reached the pinnacle of European men's soccer today of the 24 teams in the Euro Championship. England and Spain faced each other for the final, and yet again, heartbreak for England, Spain won in a thriller with a final score of 2 to 1. Here to talk about it, Jeff Rueter, who writes about soccer for The Athletic. Welcome.
JEFF RUETER: Thanks for having me.
DETROW: I mean, I had this game on in the news room. Obviously, a lot of news happening today. Each time I looked at the score, it seems like momentum had swung. It seems like a really wild, exciting game.
RUETER: Yeah, I think that usually, when you get to a tournament of this caliber, whether it's men's or women's, there's always the potential that a soccer match is going to become cagey, that it's going to become a team - or two teams that are very nervous to make mistakes, and therefore make, you know, risk-averse decisions in order to ensure that they don't lose rather than going for the win.
DETROW: Yeah.
RUETER: But I think you know, an absolute credit to Spain throughout this tournament - they have wanted to play in a proactive manner. They are the first team to win seven games in a European championship. They're actually the first men's team to win six games in a tournament. So they're a deserving winner. And I mean, as you mentioned, absolute heartbreak for England. They certainly went for it in the final 30 minutes, and they had three really good headed chances in the final minute of regulation, but ultimately, it wasn't to be.
DETROW: Who's one or two players from the Spanish squad that you'd pinpoint as the keys to success in this tournament?
RUETER: I think that the superstar kind of breakout of this is a player who actually just turned 17 two days ago, Lamine Yamal, a young winger from Barcelona, who actually resembles another former young winger from Barcelona, Lionel Messi. He likes to play on the right. He likes to cut in on his left. He can create chances for others. He can take some fantastic shots, and he scored one of the best goals of the tournament in the semifinal.
I think that you also look at the player of the tournament, defensive midfielder doing a lot of thankless work, Rodri. He had to come off at halftime today due to hamstring issues, and you could see that Spain suffered for his absence. The one goal that England managed today actually came in an area that you would expect Rodri would have been if he was healthy and available. So, you know, those two ended up leading what was a very well-balanced and very proactive Spanish champion.
DETROW: More heartbreak for England - I feel like, I mean, that's obviously been the story of, like, a half century of soccer on the international stage.
RUETER: Right.
DETROW: But another close loss in a Euros final - is this being viewed in England as a disappointment or a good run that just didn't get over the finish line?
RUETER: A bit of both. I think that compared to in 2021 when the men made it to the same level of the European championship final, and then even 2023 when the England women made it to the World Cup final, where they ultimately also lost to Spain - both of those teams were seen as favorites. Whereas today, because of the quality of Spain, and because of the sort of lucky nature by which England was able to get late goals to advance throughout this tournament, it felt like making the final was an accomplishment. So I think that there's a little bit more acceptance of this result than the last two, certainly, but either way, a bitter pill for them to swallow.
DETROW: And England ties it late. Spain goes ahead again, and England was pressing and pressing and pressing. There was that sequence with, like, when it seemed like four different headers going directly at the net. It was a really aggressive push by England.
RUETER: Yeah, it was. And I think that, you know, most other days, that is the sort of sequence that can lead to a game getting an extra 30 minutes of overtime - right? - of extra time. But you know, like you said, there were players in the right spot. The first one went right to the goalkeeper. The second one went to the one Spanish midfielder who was standing on the line and able to head it clear, and then the third one sailed over the bar. And I think from that moment, it was pretty clear. There were still four minutes of stoppage time, but that was England's best last chance.
DETROW: Yeah.
RUETER: And they just couldn't find a breakthrough from there.
DETROW: We got about 30 seconds. What was the biggest surprise of the Euros for you?
RUETER: I think it was sort of a changing of the guard moment. There were a lot of players who are 34 years or older who are, you know, leaving, and to see Croatia, a team that has made it to World Cup championships, you know, back-to-back tournaments, not even advancing out of their group, you're really starting to see some other teams like Switzerland, like Austria that are able to come into their own. So it's kind of an exciting phase for European soccer. But, yeah, again, one that Spain won, and England will be wondering what they could have done to get over the line this time around.
DETROW: That's Jeff Rueter, who covers soccer for The Athletic. Thank you so much.
RUETER: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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