Euro 2024: Fans and team mourn after the match against Spain

The summer fairytale ends in Stuttgart. Toni Kroos stood alone in the centre circle with his head bowed. National coach Julian Nagelsmann and sporting director Rudi Völler tried to rebuild their team on the pitch after this drama and disappointment. Tears flowed among the German national players and the fans in the stands: the German European Championship party is over after 120 minutes full of passion and football madness. Spain’s superiority brought the black, red and gold summer fun to a brutal end.

After three exhilarating weeks of goal fests and good-humoured games, the dream of a fourth European title is over two steps too soon before the final. After the painful goals by Leipzig’s Dani Olmo (51st minute) and Mikel Merino a few seconds before the end (119th minute) to make it 1:2 (1:1, 0:0) after extra time, Berlin remains nothing but a place of longing. The interim equaliser by the outstanding Florian Wirtz (89th minute) and a phase of pressure full of courage and the will to win did not help.

Euro 2024: The dream of winning the title in their own country ends in the quarter-finals

After the bitter defeat in Stuttgart against the once again unbeatable rival, not only is the home European Championship over for the DFB team after the quarter-finals. Kroos, who was ultimately plagued by cramps, retires from the football stage after 114 international matches with a painful defeat. It remains to be seen what will happen to the other Rio World Cup winners Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller in the national team.

“We all gave it our all not to lose. We were very close, which makes it all the more bitter,” Kroos said on MagentaTV. “At the moment, the tournament exit is the main thing, that’s the main thing because we all had a big goal together. That dream has been shattered to some extent, even if we realize in the next few days that we played a good tournament.” It’s part of that “that we’re all extremely sad.”