Southgate finds weak points in England rout

A brilliant Spain team featuring teenage sensation Lamine Yamal stands between England and a first major men's international trophy in almost 60 years in Sunday's Euro 2024 final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Spain have been the outstanding side at this European Championship, their run to the final taking in wins against title-holders Italy, hosts Germany and pre-tournament favourites France.

England, in contrast, have laboured their way to Berlin, going four straight games without winning inside 90 minutes before a stunning last-minute strike by Ollie Watkins gave them a 2-1 semi-final victory over the Netherlands.

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But a team led by Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane contains enough match-winners to believe it can go toe to toe with Spain and end England's wait for glory which goes back to the 1966 World Cup.

Unlike the country's women, who won their equivalent competition two years ago, England's men have never won the European Championship.

●This is the third meeting between Spain and England at the European Championships, with England winning 2-1 in the 1980 group stage, before progressing 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the 1996 quarterfinal.

●England have failed to score in three of their four major tournament (World Cup/Euros) games against Spain, with the last two such matches both finishing 0-0 (1982 World Cup, Euro 1996).

●Spain have won their last three major tournament finals, winning the European Championship in 2008 and 2012, and the FIFA World Cup in 2010. No European side has ever been successful in four consecutive World Cup/Euro final matches before.

●This is Spain's fifth Euro final, winning the trophy three times (1964, 2008, 2012) and losing once (1984). They could become the first team to win the competition on four separate occasions.

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●England have reached the European Championship final in consecutive editions. They've now reached more major tournament finals in four attempts under Gareth Southgate (two), than they did in their first 23 appearances at the World Cup/Euro combined (one) before his tenure.

●This will be England men's first major tournament final played outside of England, with the 1966 World Cup and Euro 2020 finals being played at Wembley Stadium. The Three Lions have never lost a match in Berlin in six attempts (W4 D2), only playing more in Helsinki (8), Amsterdam (7) and Sunderland (7) without ever suffering defeat.

●Spain have won all six of their games so far in Euro 2024, already the most wins any side has picked up in a single edition of the European Championship. Since the introduction of the group-stage in 1980, only France in 1984 (5/5) have won the competition while maintaining a 100 percent win rate.

●Spain have scored 13 goals so far in the ongoing edition – only France in 1984 (14) have scored more at a single edition of the Euros.

●England have conceded the first goal in all three of their knockout stage games so far. They're unbeaten in their last six when conceding first in the Euros (W5 D1), with no side winning more such games in the competition's history.

●Spain have applied more pressures in the final third than any other side at Euro 2024 (890), while England have had the most pressures received so far at the tournament (3,369).

●England's five shots on target against Netherlands in their semi-final victory were their most in a single match so far in Euro 2024. Meanwhile, Spain have had five or more shots on target in four of their six games at the tournament.

●Spain coach Luis de la Fuente will be 63 years and 23 days on the day of this game, the third-oldest manager to take charge of a European Championship final, after Luis Aragonés with Spain in 2008 (69y 337d) and Otto Rehhagel with Greece in 2004 (65y 330d), both of whom won the trophy.

●England boss Gareth Southgate  will be the third manager to take charge of more than one Euro final (excluding replays), after Helmut Schön with Germany (1972, 1976) and Berti Vogts with Germany (1992, 1996), with all three doing so in consecutive editions. No manager has ever lost two finals in the competition before.

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De la Fuente calls on Spain players to make history

●Aged 17 years and one day, Spain's Lamine Yamal could be the youngest ever player to feature in a FIFA World Cup or European Championship final, surpassing Pele's record from the 1958 World Cup (17y 249d). He has three assists so far in EURO 2024, with no Spaniard ever providing four at a single edition of the tournament.

●England striker Harry Kane has scored more knockout-stage goals at major tournaments (World Cup/Euro) than any other European player (nine), including a record six in the Euros.

England interim manager Lee Carsley does not plan to sing the British national anthem before his first game in charge against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

Carsley claimed he has never sung a national anthem during his time as Republic of Ireland player or England Under-21 coach.

And the 50-year-old, who has succeeded Gareth Southgate as England boss while the Football Association search for a permanent replacement, is set to continue that policy at the Aviva Stadium.

Saturday's Nations League opener will be a "proud moment for myself and my family" according to former Everton star Carsley, who played 40 times for Ireland.

But singing "God Save the King" before kick-off will not be on Carsley's agenda as he prefers to focus on his tactics in the final moments ahead of the match.

"This is something that I always struggled with when I was playing for Ireland," England-born Carsley told reporters on Friday.

"The gap between your warm-up, your coming on to the pitch and the delay with the anthems. So it's something that I have never done.

"I was always really focused on the game and my first actions of the game. I really found that in that period, I was wary about my mind wandering off.

"We had the national anthem with the Under-21s also and I am in a zone at that point.

"I am thinking about how the opposition are going to set up and our first actions within the game.

"I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries. It's something I am really respectful of."

If Marc Guehi's last-gasp header had hit the net maybe England would have gone on to become European champions on Sunday but instead Dani Olmo cleared off the line and it was Spain who took the glory and handed Gareth Southgate another agonising defeat.

Having come from behind for the fourth game in a row and seemingly on course to take the final to extra time, England were sunk by Mikel Oyarzabal's 86th-minute strike in a 2-1 loss as they suffered a second successive final defeat after going down on penalties to Italy at Wembley three years ago.

Spain deserved to win Sunday's showpiece match - England coming alive only after falling behind - but the jury remains out on Southgate.

His record speaks for itself in terms of getting England to the latter stages of tournaments in the last six years, but critics will say that having got so close he could have done even better with a bit more bravery in his selections.

After Sunday's loss, Southgate admitted captain Harry Kane was below his best following an injury but he had continued to pick him while Cole Palmer, who equalised in the final, remained a substitute despite being England's most creative player all month.

England came into the tournament as favourites, with Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden freshly crowned as players of the year in Spain and England respectively, Kane with 44 goals to his name at Bayern Munich and Declan Rice on fire.

They faced a group containing Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia and most observers were assuming there would be a smooth path through the round of 16 for a potential quarter-final showdown with France.

That did not come off - due to France's struggles - and though England duly won the group with five points and got past Slovakia in their first knockout game, it was anything but the cruise widely expected.

They started brightly against Serbia but lost their way in a 1-0 win and though England led again against Denmark, they did little else in a 1-1 draw.

That turned out to be enough to guarantee their progress, and perhaps that was a contributory factor to a flaccid goalless draw with Slovenia that had disgruntled fans jeering the team and some even throwing plastic cups at Southgate.

The coach seemed genuinely bemused by the reaction, having qualified while conceding one goal, and he pointed to the struggles of several of the other big nations.

But the statistics told a harsh story, with England managing to score twice as they ranked 20th of the 24 teams in terms of goal attempts.

England fans turned up for the last-16 game against Slovakia thinking "well at least we can't be that bad again" and they were right - the team were worse.

Trailing to an early goal for the side ranked 44th in the world, they failed to muster a shot on target until Bellingham rescued them with his spectacular scissors kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Kane duly won it in extra-time with England's only other on-target attempt but even then they appeared overawed and ended up hanging on desperately.

Southgate's reluctance to make changes left fans and pundits speechless, and throwing on striker Ivan Toney with one minute left to play for many epitomised the conservatism that he similarly showed when the 2018 World Cup semi-final and Euro 2020 final started slipping away after strong starts.

England were better, but still with little end product, in the quarter-final against Switzerland, where they went behind again, levelled through Bukayo Saka and then, with a supreme confidence never seen before, smashed home all five penalties to win the shootout after Jordan Pickford saved from Manuel Akanji.

Then came an amazing first half against the Netherlands in England's third semi-final in four tournaments when they equalised via a fortunate Kane penalty.

However, this was no laboured edge over the line as England's all star attacking lineup finally showed their teeth in a terrific display that left the Dutch grateful to turn around level.

England lost some drive in the second half but won it with a superb last-minute striker's finish by Ollie Watkins after being set up by fellow substitute Palmer as Southgate showed he had learned lessons and made telling substitutions earlier in the game.

It sent them into a second successive Euros final against a Spain team who had won all their games, most of them convincingly, with Southgate demanding that his side played without fear.

They were organised and solid in the first half but lost their bearings defensively in the second for both goals.

England finished on the front foot, with Guehi's header joining a long list of "almost" moments, but ultimately fell just short again.

Barely a week after furious fans hurled beer cups and insults at Gareth Southgate, the England manager danced with his players in front of the team's supporters on Saturday after a thrilling shootout victory launched them into the Euro 2024 semi-finals.

Southgate's men defeated Switzerland 5-3 on penalties after regulation ended 1-1, with Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka scoring a brilliant equalizer following Breel Embolo's opener.

Southgate's 100th game as England boss was his team's best in a shaky tournament that has seen the 53-year-old come under fire and speculation swirl about his future in the job.

"Every now and then you think 'Surely there has to be some enjoyment in this job?'. So if I can't enjoy that moment, then the whole thing is a waste of time," Southgate said, on dancing with his players.

The win put England in their third semi-final in four tournaments, where they will face either Turkey or the Netherlands.

"I love the players, I love being in that moment with them. I took this job to try and improve English football. I wanted us to regain credibility on a world stage. So I can't deny that when it's as personal as it's been in the last few weeks on a human level, that's quite difficult," Southgate said.

"But we're fighting. We're not going to stop fighting. And as I said, we're in another semi-final and we'll see where we can get to."

As England thrashed Panama 6-1 on Sunday Prince William, the president of the Football Association, was flying into Jordan for a historic Middle East tour.

The Duke of Cambridge missed the momentous game that helped England ease into the World Cup last 16 but caught a replay at the home of his host Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah.

The heir to the Jordanian throne posted pictures on his Instagram account late Sunday showing him and William watching a replay of the game on a huge flat television screen.

The pair are seen sitting on a couch in what appears to be a recreation room in Beit al-Ordon, the private residence of Jordan's royal family in the Hummar district west of Amman.

A devoted Aston Villa fan, William, 36, is wearing beige pants and a tie-less sky blue shirt, while 23-year-old Hussein, is wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans.

"Having a relaxing evening with His Royal Highness Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, after his first day in #OurJordan," Hussein wrote in a caption that accompanied one of two pictures of the pair.

"Watching the replay of the England game that we missed earlier today," says another caption showing the cavernous room where the two princes are watching the game.

William arrived Saturday in Jordan at the start of a Middle East tour that will see him become the first British royal to pay official visits to both Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The visit by the second in line to the British throne has been billed as a chance to bond with Hussein, a fellow graduate of Britain's Royal Sandhurst Military Academy.