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SPAIN Fa i r shake Spain’s direct, diverse team were worthy winners, with plenty more to come f rom their young stars By SIMON HART Among the quirkier reports following Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph was the appearance of a seismologist on RTVE’s lunchtime news bulletin to explain how tremors recorded close to public viewing sites in Madrid and Barcelona had reached level one and beyond on the Richter scale. Spain’s mass shakes of celebration were understandable given the way Luis de la Fuente’s team had earned their fourth European Championship title. In surpassing Germany as the most successful team in Euros history, they won all seven matches including victories over the four other World Cup-winning nations in the competition – and did it while displaying the exuberant talents of young wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal. Even before that pair had combined for the opening goal against England, De la Fuente had predicted a “very big future” for this iteration of la Selección. And little wonder given the fearless displays of both Williams and Yamal: the former was selected man of the match in the final while the latter, still 16 until the eve of the final, was named young player of the tournament for a contribution that included a brilliant semi-final strike against France. “Their energy helps the older ones,” said De la Fuente. Spain’s future looks all the brighter given they also have Gavi, the injured Barcelona attacking midfielder invited over by De la Fuente for the final (who turns 20 in August), and his club-mate Pedri, 21, whose tournament was ended by a Toni Kroos challenge in the quarter-final. Another talking point was the difference, football-wise, between this Spain and the tiki-taka team which produced that golden streak of one World Cup and two Euros between 2008 and 2012. As De la Fuente reflected, football has evolved and his team, whose control and technical excellence were embodied by player of the tournament Rodri, have “verticality” too; they could win games, he said, “not only through possession” but also “with rapid transitions”. Portugal and Germany averaged more possession per match than Spain’s 58 per cent, while, across the tournament, England attempted more passes. The composition of the team was different too. Spain’s starting 11 at the 2010 World Cup final included only one player from outside Barcelona and Real Madrid. The team that kicked off against England had players from ten different clubs. Used substitutes included, there were four from Real Sociedad and two from Athletic Bilbao, making for the national team’s most notable Basque contingent since the ( 3 ) A L A M Y The team that kicked off against England had players from ten different clubs 1980s (when perhaps not coincidentally, De la Fuente was a member of Athletic’s title-winning team). That said, when De la Fuente fielded questions about the diverse make-up of his side after the final, the focus was on Williams and Yamal. The former was born in Spain to Ghanaian parents who crossed the Sahara to reach Europe via Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla. Yamal has a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea. “These footballers are an example for society,” said De la Fuente – a quote highlighted by RTVE’s news review Informe Semanal the following Saturday as it affirmed: “La Roja is now not only white.” This was also a triumph for De la Fuente himself – and a lesson about the virtue of continuity within a national association. He had previously led sides to Under-19 and Under21 Euros titles – the latter with Mikel Oyarzabal, his supersub in Berlin, leading the attack and Fabián Ruiz and Dani Olmo scoring in the final. That is not to say the Spanish Football Federation are a model to follow in other areas. A year on from the Luis Rubiales affair, his replacement as RFEF president, Pedro Rocha, returned from Berlin to receive a two-year suspension from the Spanish Sports Administrative Tribunal (TAD) for an abuse of authority when dismissing former general secretary Andreu Camps last autumn – a ruling he has immediately challenged. Spain’s footballers provided a couple of controversies too. During the televised celebrations at the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, Manchester City midfielder Rodri, whom you might euphemistically describe as well refreshed, began a chant of “Gibraltar es español” – Gibraltar is Spanish – initially accompanied by captain Álvaro Morata until the latter reminded him that he plays his club football in England. This prompted an official complaint to UEFA from the Gibraltar FA, citing the “extremely provocative and insulting nature of the celebrations”. Real Madrid full-back Dani Carvajal then caused a stir by barely acknowledging Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s socialist president, as they shook hands during a reception for the squad. Aftershocks, as a seismologist might call them. Above Spain boss Luis de la Fuente Left Dani Carvajal walks past Pedro Sánchez Below Nico Williams (left) and Lamine Yamal celebrate Spain’s triumph
page 7
FRANCE As France trudged off the Allianz Arena pitch and out of Euro 2024, the thought occurred: is there any point reaching the last four of a major tournament playing as disjointedly as they did in Germany? Unmasked was sports daily L’Équipe’s front-page headline the day after France were comprehensively outplayed by eventual champions Spain in their 2-1 semi-final defeat. It referenced not only underperforming star man Kylian Mbappé’s decision to play the game without the face covering he’d worn up until that point to protect his nose, broken in France’s opening fixture against Austria, but also the sense of a side finally being found out. A slew of stats hinted at how soporific France were. In five matches, the team scored only once in open play. Their leading scorer was own goal (two). More damning still was the fact the side failed to fashion a single memorable passage of play in 570 minutes. The public want France want to be winners, or glorious losers. This team was neither. France were labelled defensive, but that’s crediting them with more strategy than was the case. A more accurate description would be to say that the defenders turned out to be better than the attackers in a team with no gameplan. If they seemed to be improvising tactically as they went along, it’s because they were: after Antoine Griezmann was picked out of position on the right wing in France’s last-16 1-0 win over Belgium, the player admitted manager Didier Deschamps had told him only on the morning of the match he’d been playing there. Up until the night before, France were using a different shape in training. Before the tournament, the French Football Federation (FFF) set a target of the last four. The manager met the brief, as he has at four of the last five major tournaments now. Since his superiors made no stylistic demands, you could argue Deschamps ( 3 ) A L A M Y More damning still was the fact the side failed to fashion a single memorable passage of play in 570 minutes had his bosses’ tacit approval when he said mid-competition that anyone back home that wasn’t enjoying watching Les Bleus could “change channels”. The reaction in France has been more equivocal than unim - pressed neutrals in other countries might have expected it to be. A polling company found only 51 per cent of the public want Deschamps to leave. The media see the manager’s position as a legitimate topic of debate, but have stopped short of calling for his dismissal. Under contract until 2026, Deschamps has no intention of quitting. He retains FFF president Philippe Diallo’s full backing. Alongside the team’s underwhelming performances, the other running theme was how France’s Hung empty While politics took centre stage back home, France’s incoherent tactics made for an unmemorable run By JAMES EASTHAM Above Marcus Thuram (left) and Kylian Mbappé were praised for speaking out against RN Left Randal Kolo Muani scores the semi-finalists’ only goal of the tournament from open play; France manager Didier Deschamps players felt about their country’s volatile political scene. A non-topic as the squad flew out to Germany, this all changed when president Emmanuel Macron called snap domestic parliamentary elections in reaction to Marine Le Pen’s extreme right National Rally (RN) party making significant gains in the European Parliament elections on June 9. Asked what he thought as France prepared for their opening game, striker Marcus Thuram said the RN’s unprecedented level of support was “the sad reality of our society today. As citizens, we must fight every day to ensure that the RN don’t get in. I think, or at least I hope, everyone in the team shares my opinion.” The next day, France captain Mbappé backed Thuram: “He gave his opinion, and I stand alongside him. We’re at a crucial moment in our country’s history. I want to address the French people, and the young generation in particular. I hope we make the right choice and are still proud of wearing this shirt on July 7 [the date of the second round of voting].” While Thuram and Mbappé were widely praised for speaking out, not everyone in the France camp was as comfortable voicing their views. Griezmann said he felt politics were a “private matter”, while midfielder Adrien Rabiot said: “We mustn’t get too sidetracked by the issue. We’ve got a Euro to play, with plenty of problems of our own to deal with. If we could put it [politics] to one side a little, that would be no bad thing.” In the end, the left outperformed the right at the ballot box, resulting in a hung parliament, something France isn’t accustomed to. A few days later, the squad was flying home following defeat to Spain. Heading towards late summer, the political mood was at one with that surrounding the national team: lacking consensus, and deeply uncertain, with no one sure what comes next. REVIEW EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024 WSC 7

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SPAIN

Fa i r shake Spain’s direct, diverse team were worthy winners, with plenty more to come f rom their young stars

By SIMON HART

Among the quirkier reports following Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph was the appearance of a seismologist on RTVE’s lunchtime news bulletin to explain how tremors recorded close to public viewing sites in Madrid and Barcelona had reached level one and beyond on the Richter scale.

Spain’s mass shakes of celebration were understandable given the way Luis de la Fuente’s team had earned their fourth European Championship title. In surpassing Germany as the most successful team in Euros history, they won all seven matches including victories over the four other World Cup-winning nations in the competition – and did it while displaying the exuberant talents of young wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal.

Even before that pair had combined for the opening goal against England, De la Fuente had predicted a “very big future” for this iteration of la Selección. And little wonder given the fearless displays of both Williams and Yamal: the former was selected man of the match in the final while the latter, still 16 until the eve of the final, was named young player of the tournament for a contribution that included a brilliant semi-final strike against France.

“Their energy helps the older ones,” said De la Fuente. Spain’s future looks all the brighter given they also have Gavi, the injured Barcelona attacking midfielder invited over by De la Fuente for the final (who turns 20 in August), and his club-mate Pedri, 21, whose tournament was ended by a Toni Kroos challenge in the quarter-final.

Another talking point was the difference, football-wise, between this Spain and the tiki-taka team which produced that golden streak of one World Cup and two Euros between 2008 and 2012. As De la Fuente reflected, football has evolved and his team, whose control and technical excellence were embodied by player of the tournament Rodri, have “verticality” too; they could win games, he said, “not only through possession” but also “with rapid transitions”. Portugal and Germany averaged more possession per match than Spain’s 58 per cent, while, across the tournament, England attempted more passes.

The composition of the team was different too. Spain’s starting 11 at the 2010 World Cup final included only one player from outside Barcelona and Real Madrid. The team that kicked off against England had players from ten different clubs. Used substitutes included, there were four from Real Sociedad and two from Athletic Bilbao, making for the national team’s most notable Basque contingent since the

( 3 )

A L A M Y

The team that kicked off against England had players from ten different clubs

1980s (when perhaps not coincidentally, De la Fuente was a member of Athletic’s title-winning team).

That said, when De la Fuente fielded questions about the diverse make-up of his side after the final, the focus was on Williams and Yamal. The former was born in Spain to Ghanaian parents who crossed the Sahara to reach Europe via Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla. Yamal has a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea. “These footballers are an example for society,” said De la Fuente – a quote highlighted by RTVE’s news review Informe Semanal the following Saturday as it affirmed: “La Roja is now not only white.”

This was also a triumph for De la Fuente himself – and a lesson about the virtue of continuity within a national association. He had previously led sides to Under-19 and Under21 Euros titles – the latter with Mikel Oyarzabal, his supersub in Berlin, leading the attack and Fabián Ruiz and Dani Olmo scoring in the final.

That is not to say the Spanish Football Federation are a model to follow in other areas. A year on from the Luis Rubiales affair, his replacement as RFEF president, Pedro Rocha, returned from Berlin to receive a two-year suspension from the Spanish Sports Administrative Tribunal (TAD) for an abuse of authority when dismissing former general secretary Andreu Camps last autumn – a ruling he has immediately challenged.

Spain’s footballers provided a couple of controversies too. During the televised celebrations at the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, Manchester City midfielder Rodri, whom you might euphemistically describe as well refreshed, began a chant of “Gibraltar es español” – Gibraltar is Spanish – initially accompanied by captain Álvaro Morata until the latter reminded him that he plays his club football in England. This prompted an official complaint to UEFA from the Gibraltar FA, citing the “extremely provocative and insulting nature of the celebrations”. Real Madrid full-back Dani Carvajal then caused a stir by barely acknowledging Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s socialist president, as they shook hands during a reception for the squad. Aftershocks, as a seismologist might call them.

Above Spain boss Luis de la Fuente Left Dani Carvajal walks past Pedro Sánchez Below Nico Williams (left) and Lamine Yamal celebrate Spain’s triumph

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