New Delhi: Spain have marched into their fifth UEFA Euro final and their first major final since they won the tournament back in 2012. Luis de la Fuente’s men have arguably been the best side throughout the tournament, as evidenced by the fact that they’re the only side who’ve won all the matches that they’ve played in Germany.
La Roja entered the tournament as one of the outside favourites, considered to be one of the teams that’ll make a deep run to the tournament but no one expected them to be capable of winning the whole thing. Yet, they proved their doubters wrong and look to be the favourites to lift the trophy on Sunday night.
Spain’s path to the finals was not an easy one from the very beginning as they were drawn into the group of the death and then were drawn into the tougher side of the knockout bracket. This was a baptism by fire for Luis de la Fuente as this was the first major tournament he had ever taken charge of, as he’d mostly been a youth-level manager before taking up the Spain coaching job.
Group Stages
Spain’s dominant win over Croatia set the wheels in motion for their tournament.(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Spain started their campaign with a dominating 3-0 win over Croatia which looking back now, was like a warning shot to all the other teams. The game was a show of their superior skills as they wrecked a strong Croatia side apart as goals from Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz, and Dani Carvajal got La Roja’s winning streak started.
In their second game of the tournament, they faced defending champions Italy which proved to be a stern test for them as Gianluigi Donnaruma’s heroics denied every Spaniard’s attempt at his goal but an unfortunate own goal from Riccardo Calafiori handed De la Fuente’s men a narrow win which secured their qualification.
Their final group game was against European minnows Albania, but just like they did to Croatia and Italy, they gave a tough fight to Spain as well. As their qualification had already been secured, De la Fuente made 10 changes to his side but still managed to squeak past the Albanians, courtesy of a Ferran Torres goal.
Round of 16
Spain blew away Georgia to advance to the next round. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
An easier draw on paper awaited Spain in the pre-quarters stage as they took on debutants Georgia but this was another potentially tricky test as the Georgian players were high on confidence, having just beaten Portugal in their final group game to earn a spot in this round. La Roja were rocked early on in the game as an own goal from Robin Le Normand saw them go behind.
However, they didn’t panic about going behind and instead put on one of their most dominant displays of the tournament, blowing the debutants away with a 4-1 win to advance to the quarters. Goals from Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams, Rodri, and Dani Olmo completed the rout for them as they awaited their biggest test in the quarters.
Quarter-finals
Dani Olmo put in a man-of-the-match display against Germany. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
The quarterfinal fixture gave us a repeat of the UEFA Euro 2008 final where Spain took on Germany, and just as they did 16 years back, Spain emerged victorious by a single goal to send the hosts crashing out. A physical, intense, and exhilarating game between the two sides ensued and it was pretty evident that the winner of this clash would be the favourite to win the tournament.
The game was off to a horrible start for De la Fuente as just minutes into the match Pedri was injured and forced to be taken off with an injury that ultimately ended the tournament for him. His replacement in the match, Dani Olmo, ended up lighting the field on fire. He was the MVP in that game as his goal gave La Roja the lead and was the one who set up the winner in the final minute of extra-time after Florian Wirtz’s late equalizer had pushed the game to go on till 120 minutes.
Semi-finals
Lamine Yamal’s magic ensured Spain reached their first UEFA Euro final since 2012. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
In the semi-finals, we saw a game that we hadn’t seen in a very long time in a major International tournament as we saw France take on Spain. The last time both these sides met in a major tournament was back in the UEFA Euro 2012, as Spain overcame the French on their way towards lifting the title.
While this was another big game on paper, this France side was a shadow of previous sides as they never looked worthy of being semi-finalists. However, once again Spain went behind in a knockout game as Randall Kolo Muani headed from a Kylian Mbappe cross to give them the lead. Spain, for the first time in the tournament, looked second best for a while but a moment of magic from Lamine Yamal and another goal from Dani Olmo sealed their place in the finals of UEFA Euro 2024.
Final
Can Spain repeat the success of UEFA Euro 2012 in Germany? (Photo by Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Spain now take on England in the finals of UEFA Euro 2024 and having already faced teams like Italy, Germany, and France on their way to Berlin, they are likely to be more prepared for their opposition than their opposition would be for them. It’s expected to be a closely contested game between the two sides as they both look to end their trophy drought in Berlin.
Spain have had a 100% record throughout their run to the finals of UEFA Euro 2024. Let’s take a look back at their path to Berlin. Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
