Two Bundesliga stars. Two teenagers. Two super sixes. And two much-criticized coaches. They are all in the spotlight ahead of the European Championship final between Spain and England on Sunday evening.
Spain or England – who will be European football champions? Several exciting duels will decide the outcome of this final in Berlin this evening (9 p.m./ARD and MagentaTV).
Duel of Bundesliga stars
Harry Kane from Bayern Munich and Dani Olmo from RB Leipzig: Both of them can not only become European champions on Sunday evening, but also become the top scorer of this European Championship. With three goals each, they are among the six players who lead the tournament’s goal scorers list before the last game.
The record of their previous duels in Germany is even: In Kane’s first game for FC Bayern, the German record champions lost the Supercup final against Leipzig 3-0 thanks to three goals from Olmo. England’s captain took revenge with two goals in a 2-1 win against Leipzig in February this year. Dani Olmo was absent from the Bundesliga first leg due to injury.
Duel of the teenagers
Spain’s Lamine Yamal is the revelation of this tournament. He celebrated his 17th birthday one day before the final. Before that, he had already broken two records as the youngest player (in the 3-0 win against Croatia) and youngest goalscorer (in the 2-1 win against France) in European Championship history.
But the English also have a young star with remarkably large leaps in development. In autumn 2023, 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo played twice in the UEFA Youth League for Manchester United. After that, everything happened very quickly: a regular Premier League player since December, international debut in March, a regular European Championship player since the round of 16 against Switzerland.
Mainoo also holds a record at this tournament: with a pass completion rate of 96 percent, he has the best value of all players who have played more than 100 passes at this European Championship and at all other European Championships since 1980, according to sports data analyst Opta.
Duel of the coaches
Spain’s Luis de la Fuente and England’s Gareth Southgate have a similar coaching biography: two former defenders who each coached only one professional club and then switched to the association at an early age. There, both were later promoted from U21 to national coach.
Many Spaniards would have preferred not to see the 63-year-old de la Fuente at this tournament at all. It was not just his mixed performances during the European Championship qualification that drew criticism, but above all his handling of the kissing scandal involving the now resigned and briefly even arrested association president Luis Rubiales at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. De la Fuente applauded loudly when Rubiales gave a crude defense speech. The Spanish coach only apologized for this later.
Compared to that, the criticism of Southgate after the poor performances of the English at the beginning of the European Championship was harmless. And football legend Gary Lineker also said in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” about this final: “If he wins the European Championship, he can walk off into the sunset, receive his knighthood – and everyone will love him forever.”
Duel of the Super Sixes
The position of the central defensive midfielder is probably the most strategically important in modern football. This has been apparent in Germany since Thomas Tuchel pleaded with FC Bayern to sign such a midfielder, but to no avail. A year ago, the Munich team did not want to pay 120 million euros for the Englishman Declan Rice. Arsenal did. And the 25-year-old has not missed a second of this European Championship.
England has the most expensive number six in the world – Spain has the best. The 27-year-old Rodri from Manchester City is considered the ultimate in this position. “If Spain win, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was voted the best player of the tournament,” even Lineker said.
Duel of the U21 finalists
Spain against England – this European Championship final was played once before last year. In the final of the U21 European Championship, the English won 1-0 in Georgia. There will be a reunion for three players on Sunday evening in Berlin: Cole Palmer (Chelsea FC) and Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United) have made it into the current European Championship squad for the English team. For the Spanish team, only midfielder Álex Baena (Villarreal FC) has made it.
The U21 European champions from 2019 are much more strongly represented in this European Championship final. In addition to goalkeeper Unai Simón and Leipzig’s Dani Olmo, they are also the midfielders Fabián Ruiz, Mikel Merino and Mikel Oyarzabal. The Spanish coach was then, as he is now, de la Fuente. Only the opponent in the final was different. In 2019 it was Germany.
Source: Stern
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