For the first time at the European Championships, the Spanish national team did not appear to be visiting Germany. The colour of the stands was distributed relatively equally between red (Spain) and blue (France). The difference, however, was in the public, which in theory was neutral. The Germans did not show a particular preference for either team at Bayern Munich’s stadium. They did, however, show a strange aversion to Marc Cucurella, the footballer who seemed to have a clean slate. hatersIn the days of the biggest haters, he was brutally booed in Munich. It didn’t seem to make sense. It did for the German fans in Bavaria: Spain had taken away their dream of a semi-final and Cucurella was singled out as the culprit after English referee Anthony Taylor failed to sanction a handball in the penalty area by the Spanish full-back when the match was 1-1. Then came Merino in Stuttgart, so that Lamine could show the world his full potential in Munich. La Roja returns to Berlin next Sunday.
2
Unai Simon, Marc Cucurella, Jesus Navas (Dani Vivian, min. 57), Aymeric Laporte, Nacho, Lamine Yamal (Ferran Torres, min. 92), Nico Williams (Martin Zubimendi, min. 93), Rodri, Dani Olmo (Mikel Merino, min. 75), Fabian Ruiz and Alvaro Morata (Mikel Oyarzabal, min. 75)
1
Mike Maignan, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, Jules Koundé, Théo Hernández, Aurélien Tchouaméni, N’Golo Kanté (Antoine Griezmann, min. 61), Adrien Rabiot (Eduardo Camavinga, min. 61), Ousmane Dembélé (Olivier Giroud, min. 78), Kylian Mbappé and Randal Kolo Muani (Bradley Barcola, min. 62)
Goals
0-1 min. 8: Randal Kolo Muani. 1-1 min. 20: Lamine Yamal. 2-1 min. 24: Dani Olmo
Referee Slavko Vincic
Yellow cards
Jesus Navas (min. 13), Aurelien Tchouameni (min. 59), Camavinga (min. 88), Lamine Yamal (min. 90)
“We are achieving something exceptional,” said De la Fuente. “If the referees say it isn’t, it isn’t,” Cucurella had defended himself during the week. The German fans did not find the Chelsea full-back’s explanation sufficient. Then, when Cucurella’s name appeared on the stadium’s loudspeakers, the home fans whistled. “I think it’s a disgrace. No player deserves to come to a stadium and hear that,” complained Dani Vivián. The Spanish fans, at first, did not understand the situation. But when the Germans insisted on whistling the footballer who came through the Barcelona youth academy every time he touched the ball, the Red fans reacted: “Cucurella, Cucurella, Cucurella.” A bit of pampering for Cucu, a bit of sweet revenge for Spain: the Germans were cruel to Cucurella, but they had fun with Lamine Yamal. “Lamine?” said Griezmann; “you can see it on the pitch.”
“I’m very happy to have made it to the final,” said Yamal, the match’s MVP. “Now we’re going for the title. I try not to think too much and just enjoy it. I want to win, win and win for my birthday,” concluded the Barcelona player, who will turn 17 on Saturday 13 July, the day before the final in Berlin. “We’re very close, this team is incredible, one step away from glory,” added Dani Olmo, the first Spaniard to score in three consecutive Euro Cup matches. “The important thing is to make it through. We planned the match very well, we continued to play our game, with that spectacular goal from Lamine. Then we controlled the match very well,” concluded the RB Leipzig midfielder.
Spain essentially controlled Mbappé and Dembelé. “I’m not going to blame anyone. Kylian suffered a trauma, we had other physical problems and we still managed to keep going and reached the semi-finals. We weren’t at 100% of our potential for different reasons,” justified Didier Deschamps, the France coach. Luis de la Fuente, for his part, analysed: “We have returned Spain to its rightful place.” La Roja returns to a European final after 12 years and became the first team to win six games in a single edition of the Euro. “We want to make history and win that final in Berlin. The team’s work has been enormous, especially in defence. In the second half, which was more tactical, we were unable to counterattack like in the first. We await the final with open arms,” concluded the Spanish coach.
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