'I'm the coach - get used to it!', says Hierro

Sunday sees Spain face England in the final of Euro 2024. La Roja have been the most impressive side at the tournament, and are favourites with the Opta supercomputer to win in Berlin, but anything can happen in a final.

When it comes to the Spain men's national team and La Liga sides, they are near enough invincible in major finals.

Taking into account World Cups, European Championships, Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, of the last 26 men's finals involving Spanish teams, all 26 have had Spanish winners.

That's not to say all Spanish sides have won; four have been defeated in that time, but in all cases they have been beaten by fellow La Liga sides.

You have to go all the way back to 2001 to last see a non-Spanish team beat a Spanish one in a major final, and it happened twice.

Liverpool beat Alaves 5-4 in the UEFA Cup final with an own goal that also happened to be a golden goal in extra-time. If that wasn't agonising enough, Valencia then lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich on penalties a week later.

It is quite the record and could be extended when Spain face England on Sunday.

Spain's path to European Championship success was forged the hard way thanks to a remarkable collective effort, with several squad players coming off the bench at key moments to make decisive contributions when the team needed them the most.

Substitute Mikel Oyarzabal became the 10th Spain player to score at Euro 2024 when he set up and finished in the 86th minute to secure a 2-1 win over England and a record fourth title. It was their 15th goal, the most by any team at a Euros.

It was a similar script to the 2-1 quarter-final victory over Germany when substitute Mikel Merino stepped up to head the winner in the last moments of extra-time to silence a raucous Stuttgart Stadion.

Spain had to dig deep but their monstrous effort in that ill-tempered game against Germany had a price, with midfielder Pedri sustaining a knee serious injury that put him out of the tournament, while bookings for defenders Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand left them depleted to face France in the semi-final.

However, Spain once again showed their grit and passion to overcome another obstacle, with Dani Olmo, who also came off the bench to score and provide an assist against Germany, starting versus France, replacing Pedri, and scoring the winner.

Spain's ultimate team victory came in the final when all looked to be going against them after their most reliable player, Euro 2024 MVP Rodri, could not return for the second-half after suffering a knee injury.

With the game level at 1-1 and England on a roll, left-back Marc Cucurella, whose mistake led to the counter-attack that gave England the equaliser, redeemed himself with a lung-busting 50 metres run followed by the cross for Oyarzabal to score.

Cucurella was one of the brightest lights of Spain's Euro 2024 campaign and credited his performances to his diligent work ethic during an underwhelming spell at club side Chelsea.

A team full of under the radar players with uplifting stories that ground out seven wins in seven matches playing a mostly attacking game at a tournament in which most of the big favourites left under criticism for underwhelming performances.

Spain's two opening wins enabled coach Luis de la Fuente to make 10 changes for the final group game against Albania and the stand-ins did not miss a beat as they carved out a 1-0 win.

They had the perfect leader in coach Luis de la Fuente, the man who was mocked on social media as "Luis de la Who?" after his appointment last year, being little known after toiling away at the country's academy level for over a decade.

He had the chance to work with over half of the players he took to Germany, with names like Rodri, Olmo, Merino, Oyarzabal and Fabian, who had played big roles under his calm guidance in the Under-19 and Under-21 European Championship in 2015 and 2019 respectively, now repeating that success in the senior squad.

"In life and in sport, when you give your best effort and sacrifice yourself, you get the reward from everything you gave up to get there," Rodri told Spain's TVE.

"We have made history. We have beaten four world champions (Italy, Germany, France and England) one after the other, the hardest way to win it. It speaks to the mentality of the team.

"This is something that was cultivated, many of us were Under-19, Under-21 champions together. The coach knew what he was doing. The coach knew what he was doing!"

Rafael Nadal on Thursday announced he will retire after the Davis Cup finals in November, ending a career which brought 22 Grand Slam titles, global respect and inspired epic, iconic rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

"I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially," Nadal said in a video on social media.

"It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life everything has a beginning and an end."

The 38-year-old Spaniard is set to end his two decades as a professional with 92 titles and prize money alone of $135 million.

He dominated the French Open where he won 14 of his majors, his first arriving just days after his 19th birthday in 2005, his last in 2022 making him the event's oldest champion.

On the famous crushed brick of Roland Garros, he lost just three times in 115 matches.

He was also a four-time champion at the US Open and a two-time winner at the Australian Open, his first triumph coming in 2009; his second 13 years later.

Nadal also won Wimbledon twice, in 2008 and 2010 despite grass considered to be the surface most likely to expose any shortcomings in his game.

His five-set victory over Roger Federer in the 2008 championship match, which ended in almost complete darkness at the All England Club, is widely regarded as the greatest Slam final ever played.

Nadal claimed a career Golden Slam when he took Olympic Games gold in 2008. For good measure, he also won five Davis Cups.

Nadal was a five-time year-end world number one and never left the top 10 from 2005 until March this year.

In total, he spent 209 weeks in top spot and between 2004 and 2022, won at least one title every year.

In his long rivalry with close friend Federer, who retired last year, he enjoyed a 24-16 edge. Nadal surpassed Federer's mark of 20 majors in Australia last year.

He and Djokovic, the all-time leader with 24 men's Grand Slam titles, met 60 times with the Serb just ahead by two.

An underpowered Nadal was swept aside by Djokovic in straight sets in their final meeting at this year's Paris Olympics.

Despite his record-breaking career, Nadal was plagued by injuries, a painful by-product of his all-action, brutal-hitting style.

PHOTO: AFP

- Injury-plagued-

Ankle, wrist, knee, elbow and abdominal problems caused him to sit out 16 Grand Slam tournaments and withdraw mid-event on five occasions at the majors.

At the 2022 French Open, he admitted that his title charge would have been impossible without daily pain-killing injections in his foot.

Nadal then underwent a medical procedure which required nerves in the foot to be burned to allow him to extend his career.

However, the creaks in the body were getting louder.

An abdominal strain forced him out of Wimbledon where he had made the semi-finals.

He was then struck down with a hip injury at the Australian Open in January as he crashed out in the second round -- his earliest exit at the majors in seven years.

His wife Mery was in tears as she watched him struggle through to the end.

Nadal possibly sensed the writing was on the wall in the Laver Cup in London two years ago when he played alongside Federer in the great Swiss star's final tournament.

At 41, and unable to shake off a knee injury, Federer called it quits.

The two men wept and even grasped each other's hands as the Federer era ended.

"When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving too," said Nadal.

Thousands of people in Madrid welcomed Spain's squad home on Monday after they beat England to win Euro 2024.

After receptions with King Felipe VI and prime minister Pedro Sanchez, La Roja were paraded through the capital city on an open-top bus.

It was adorned with the message "it's only the beginning" and the trophy sat at the front of the bus.

"We want a lot," Sanchez said.

"We want more," he added.

The likes of Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Sunday's match-winner in Berlin, Mikel Oyarzabal, wore white t-shirts with the number four on them in reference to the record number of times Spain have won the European Championship.

"For now, we're not realising yet what we have accomplished," Williams said.

The attacker, who scored the opening goal of the 2-1 victory, was also eager to thank Spain's fans "for the love and warmth they brought the team".

The team bus took them to Plaza Cibeles in central Madrid where thousands more fans waited to celebrate the success, following on from victories in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has heaped praise on Barcelona and Spain coaches for taking good care of young talent Lamine Yamal, who is setting the European Championship on fire.

The 17-year-old Barcelona forward has already set a few records as Spain moved into the final against England. Yamal became the youngest player to appear in the Euros and then became the youngest to score in the Euros. Yamal's goal and three assists in the tournament so far has put him forefront for the player of the tournament award.

Scaloni, who will see his Argentina side take on Colombia in the final of Copa America tomorrow, had praise reserved for the coaches of Spain and Barcelona.

"Lamine Yamal is a spectacular emergence, and much credit goes to Xavi [former Barcelona coach] for giving him the opportunity to play at such a young age and wear the Barcelona jersey. And then to Luis [de la Fuente] for giving him the chance with the Spanish national team. It must be one of the most important breakthroughs in recent years," the World Cup-winning coach said.

Scaloni, who himself has been credited with giving opportunity to precocious talents at the expense of some washed-out veterans, cautioned the coaches that Yamal's talent will need continued guidance and nursing.

"And I think the most important thing now is that from here on, they take care of him, that they stay close to him. From what we can see, he is a spectacular young man and is bringing great rewards to Spain," the Argentina coach said.