Once Yamal and Williams helped Spain out of its 'tiki‑taka' rut, no rival could resist at Euro 2024
Spain arrived in Germany with no huge stars and no real expecta‐ tions. Six weeks later, Luis de la Fuente's team heads home with a European Championship title to celebrate and reason to believe in a bright future.
The youthful spark of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams com‐ bined perfectly with the veteran poise of Rodri and other main‐ stays who had yet to win a major trophy as Spain completed its su‐ perb Euro 2024 with a 2‐1 win over England on Sunday.
The key was making Spain a more dynamic and versatile at‐ tacking team to end a decade of "tiki‐taka" misfires.
Spain won all seven games — with none going to penalties — and scored a record 15 goals at a European Championship. And those victories came against the top traditional powers on the con‐ tinent, as Spain downed Croatia and Italy in the group phase be‐ fore eliminating Germany and France to reach the final.
"We made history," Rodri said after the game. "We made history beating four world champions in a row, this is the most difficult tournament that our team has faced, without a doubt. We top‐ pled them all."
The team flew to Madrid on Monday, where captain Álvaro Morata showed off the trophy on the stairs leading down to the tar‐ mac. The team will visit Spain's
King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez before partying with fans in the capital.
PASSING THE TORCH
Rodri was named the player of the tournament, even without playing the second half of the final due to a leg problem. The Man‐ chester City midfielder is now Spain's leading candidate to fi‐ nally win its first men's Ballon d'Or award since Luis Suárez did so back in 1960. Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas have won the women's Ballon d'Or award the past three years.
The title ends a 12‐year wait since a group piloted by Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández dom‐ inated world soccer after sweep‐ ing up the 2008 and 2012 Euros and the 2010 World Cup.
"The previous generations showed us the way," Rodri said. "This is something that is culti‐ vated and nurtured and you work hard for. Today we are champions of Europe and we are not going to stop here."
The only member of the team that knew what it was like to win a major title was the 38‐year‐old Jesus Navas, who played at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.
Iniesta, Spain's scorer in the 2010 World Cup final, also had a small part in helping this bunch stay together.
Morata credited Iniesta and for‐ mer player Bojan Krkic for having helped convince him to play the Euros. The Atlético Madrid striker has spoken out about the emo‐ tional pain he has experienced after receiving hateful comments on social media.
Fittingly, Iniesta, Xavi and for‐ mer Spain striker David Villa were together in the stands at the Olympiastadion to watch how this new batch of players added a new dimension to Spain's game.
NEW STYLE
While nowhere close to Eng‐ land's anguishing title drought since the 1966 World Cup, Spain had entered a period of under‐ achieving since its success at Euro 2012. Its attempts to maintain the "tiki‐taka" ball‐possession playing style failed. Without Iniesta and company, Spain fell into the dol‐ drums of making sometimes over 1,000 passes but scant few scor‐ ing chances in the biggest games.
In Germany, however, Spain de‐ ployed some new weapons that left defenses scrambling to cover attacks from all angles.
The imprint of those great Spain teams was still there to be seen, of course. Rodri and fellow mid‐ fielder Fabián Ruíz could latch onto the ball when required.
Yet the strength of Spain shifted to the wings.
Yamal put on a show each game from the right side. The Barcelona forward, who turned 17 a day be‐ fore the final, scored an instant classic of a goal to help beat France 2‐1 in the semifinals, and he delivered his fourth assist of the tournament to set up Williams' goal against England.
Williams romped on the other flank, where he doubled up with Marc Cucurella to make a duo that no defenders could handle. Cu‐ curella delivered the pass for Mikel Oyarzabal to score the win‐ ner over England.
Williams was named player of the match for the final. The Ath‐ letic Bilbao forward and Dani Olmo, who plays for Leipzig, have both boosted their value and are likely going to draw the attention of major clubs.
Olmo stepped in as a starter after Pedri González was injured and finished as joint‐leading scorer of the tournament with three goals. He also pitched in at the other end when he cleared a ball off the goal‐line that could have sent the final into extra time.
De la Fuente, for his part, man‐ aged to keep his team isolated from the scandals afflicting Spain's soccer federation.
"I don't know if anyone believed me, but from day one I said that I had the best 26 players in the world. They always rose to the challenge."