Spain appoint Hierro following Lopetegui sacking

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente called on a "brilliant" generation of players to make history for their country in the Euro 2024 final against England on Sunday.

La Roja are aiming to win a record fourth European Championship 12 years after they last lifted the trophy.

With Rodri Hernandez pulling the strings in midfield and explosive young wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams in attack, Spain have been the tournament's great entertainers on the road to Berlin.

"It's a brilliant generation, many of them have come through successful youth levels and that usually bodes well for success," De la Fuente told reporters Saturday.

"We want to start to make history -- and we have made history already in the run to (the final)... I trust in a great future, there's both present and future."

Spain won the 2008 and 2012 Euros and the 2010 World Cup with many star players from Barcelona and Real Madrid, including Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Ramos and David Villa.

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The current side has fewer stars but consider that one of their strong points, with the squad on an even footing and "unity" has been a key word among Spain players at the tournament.

Despite Spain shining en route to the final while England have scraped through, De la Fuente said the clash at the Olympiastadion will be "extremely balanced".

"Whichever team manages to impose their strengths, whoever makes less errors (will win)," said the coach.

"But you can win a one-off game, even playing far worse (than your opponent).

"We need to have maximum concentration, not make any mistakes and take advantage of the chances we have -- put them away."

The coach thanked injured duo Pedri and Ayoze Perez, who will not be available to face England, and said Barcelona midfielder Gavi will travel to join the team for the final.

The 19-year-old missed most of the season with a knee injury but was an important player for Spain before sustaining it in November.

- 'Incredible maturity' -

De la Fuente said it was no challenge to keep Barcelona's Yamal, who turned 17 on Saturday, and Athletic Bilbao's Williams, 22, calm ahead of the biggest game of their careers.

"It's not at all hard, they have such joy, and incredible maturity for such young players, they understand the sport very well and they are well accompanied by more experienced players," explained the coach.

"We're a team, it's not about hailing individuals, and this makes us stronger."

At the other end of the age spectrum is 38-year-old Sevilla defender Jesus Navas, who started the semi-final win over France in direct confrontation with Kylian Mbappe.

Navas won the 2010 World Cup, 2012 Euros and the 2023 Nations League with Spain and said he would love to lift another trophy with his country.

"To still be enjoying myself with my national team at 38 is incredible," said the right-back.

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"In (Spain's golden years) we were such a close-knit group, and you could feel it. Now it's the same, there's an incredible group. I'm delighted by everything that's happening to us.

"We know the excitement and hope that we all have and I hope we can win it."

Croatia face France in Moscow on Sunday attempting to win their first World Cup while Didier Deschamps' side are aiming to land their second title two decades on from their triumph on home soil.

France, who are clear favourites to triumph in the Luzhniki Stadium, will also be spurred on by the bitter disappointment of losing the Euro 2016 final to Portugal in Paris.

It is a final few people anticipated when football's global showpiece kicked off four weeks ago.

Croatia have brought joy to their Balkan nation of just four million people by defying the odds to progress to the final while reigning champions Germany, then Argentina and Brazil all fell by the wayside in Russia.

They have been inspired by mercurial midfielder Luka Modric while coach Zlatko Dalic, who only took over last year with the squad in chaos, has coaxed remarkable performances from his team.

Deschamps would become only the third man to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager -- he was captain when France lifted the World Cup in 1998.

His France side, spearheaded by 19-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe and the more seasoned Antoine Griezmann, are the favourites.

Paul Pogba has finally become a leader in midfield for France and N'Golo Kante has excelled in doing the tireless work that allows his teammates to shine, while Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane are the nucleus of a solid defence.

Les Bleus laboured through their group, beating Australia and Peru by the odd goal and drawing with Denmark in the only goalless game of the tournament.

Then they hit form, sweeping aside Argentina in a match which announced to the world that Mbappe is set to be an international superstar as he scored twice and outshone Lionel Messi.

But apart from that 4-3 win, France have played like a Deschamps side, with the emphasis on defence.

Real Madrid will present Julen Lopetegui as their new coach at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Thursday at 7 pm (1700 GMT), the Spanish giants said in a statement.

Spain's football federation sacked Lopetegui as the country's national team coach on Wednesday on the eve of the start of the World Cup, a day after Real announced they had hired him to replace Zinedine Zidane.

Gibraltar on Tuesday expressed fury over the "offensive" and "discriminatory" chants by several Spain players during the mass celebrations in Madrid after their Euro 2024 victory over England.

More than half a million people gathered in central Madrid late Monday to welcome the national team home a day after they beat England 2-1 in Berlin to secure Spain a record fourth European Championship crown.

During the celebrations, which saw the city turned into a sea of red and yellow, several players grabbed the microphone to sing, with captain Alvaro Morata belting out "Gibraltar es espanol" -- "Gibraltar is Spanish" -- in a chant also picked up by Rodri, who plays for English club Manchester City.

The chants were not lost on Gibraltar, a tiny British territory at the southern tip of Spain, whose government expressed anger at such "discriminatory political statements that are hugely offensive to Gibraltarians".

Using the celebrations "for advancing the idea of usurping the territory of Gibraltar is contrary to the principle that sport should not be used to advance any politically controversial ideology," it said in a statement.

And Chief Minister Fabian Picardo took to X to express a more full-throated opinion, describing the chants as "worse than disgusting".

"It sullies the sport of football and the win on the pitch.. This cannot stand unchallenged. The Rock is OURS," he said, using Gibraltar's nickname for its famous cliff-faced mountain.

The Gibraltar Football Association also slammed the chanting as "extremely provocative and insulting" and said it would file an official complaint with the European footballing body UEFA.

"Football has no place for behaviour of his nature," it said in a statement.

Gibraltar has long been a source of tension between Madrid and London.

Although Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in 1713, Madrid has long wanted it back in a long-running bone of contention that has for decades involved pressure on the frontier.

Tensions peaked in 1969 when the regime of dictator Francisco Franco closed the border, which did not fully reopen until 1985.

Ahead of Sunday's final, social media had been buzzing with talk about the clash between Spain and England with many Spain fans posting the line: "The winner takes Gibraltar".

Spain were held by Serbia in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday in their first game since winning Euro 2024, while Cristiano Ronaldo reached another milestone by scoring his 900th career goal as Portugal beat Croatia.

Eight of Spain's starting line-up in their Euro 2024 final victory over England almost two months ago were on the field at kick-off against Serbia in Belgrade.

Among them was Lamine Yamal, with the Barcelona prodigy just one of the Spain players to be denied by home goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.

Luis de la Fuente's team are also the reigning Nations League champions having won the most recent edition of the tournament last year.

They will now hope to register their first victory in League A, Group 4 when they travel to face Switzerland in Geneva on Sunday.

The Swiss lost 2-0 to Denmark on Thursday, with Patrick Dorgu and captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scoring late goals for the home side in Copenhagen.

Switzerland finished the match with nine men as both Nico Elvedi and Granit Xhaka were sent off in the second half.

In Lisbon, Ronaldo's 900th career goal proved to be the winner as 2019 Nations League champions Portugal edged Croatia 2-1 in Group A1.

Ronaldo, 39, put behind him a disappointing Euro 2024 in which he failed to score as he turned in a Nuno Mendes cross in the 34th minute at the Estadio da Luz to reach the landmark.

He appeared emotional as he celebrated the goal, his 131st in a Portugal shirt. Half of his goals were scored for Real Madrid, with the remainder spread across his spells at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United and current club Al-Nassr.

Diogo Dalot's goal had put Portugal in front early on before Ronaldo netted, with a Dalot own-goal reducing the deficit before the break.

- Scotland lose to Poland -

Portugal next host Scotland, who lost 3-2 to Poland at Hampden Park, with the visitors grabbing the victory thanks to a 97th-minute Nicola Zalewski penalty.

Poland had been 2-0 up as Sebastian Szymanski gave them an early lead and captain Robert Lewandowski added a penalty just before the break.

However, Billy Gilmour pulled one back for League A newcomers Scotland moments after the restart, and Scott McTominay equalised before Roma's Zalewski sneaked his spot-kick under Angus Gunn deep into stoppage time.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Slovakia and Northern Ireland in League C, while Sweden -- now being coached by Jon Dahl Tomasson -- beat Azerbaijan 3-1 away in Baku with Newcastle United's Alexander Isak netting twice.

History was made in League D as San Marino, the world's worst team according to the FIFA rankings, beat Liechtenstein 1-0 to claim their first ever competitive win.

The tiny country of barely 30,000 people, surrounded by Italy, came into the match at their San Marino Stadium looking for a first win of any sort since beating Liechtenstein in a friendly in 2004.

Liechtenstein had a goal disallowed for a tight offside in the first half before San Marino pounced on a defensive error to grab the winner in the 53rd minute through Nicko Sensoli.

Aged 19, he had not been born when the team who sit 210th and last in the world rankings last won a game.

Friday's Nations League action includes France hosting Italy in Paris.