The ogre speaks English. There will be no unprecedented triplet for Spain, whose generation of 2000 won the U-17 and U-19 European Championships but fell again this Saturday against England, as in the U-17 World Cup final (the only hole in the Federation museum). , in the U-21 continental final and signed a most bitter farewell to the quarry. Some of them, not all, will be able to extend until the Games but the defeat against England is one of those that hurt.
No one embodies that pain more than Abel Ruiz, captain and scorer of this generation, who became the Spanish player with the most appearances in lower categories (86) against the English, a milestone celebrated with the most painful tears of his career. Heartbroken, the Braga striker tried to digest as best he could the failure of a penalty made in VAR in the tenth minute of the addition that he himself made and before which Trafford once again deployed all his feline resources. He has not had to collect a single ball from his goal in the entire tournament. Awesome.
It did not take long for Spain to crash into the impassable English wall. The vitola of the most goalscoring team was of little use to him against a rocky rival and splendidly planted in the green of Batumi. The first approaches, moreover, also had an English accent, with Palmer and an undetectable Gordon as exponents. Arnau Tenas was stretching well – what a goalkeeper – with almost no time to warm up to avoid the first.
Accustomed to taking control of the matches, it was difficult for a world to build plays for Spain against an England that looked more muscular and did not hesitate when trying to steal the ball. An attempt was made to stretch out Santi Denia's men with an isolated shot from Baena, which gave the first scare to the unbeaten Trafford, one of the players in the tournament. They would be followed by a header from Paredes and a shot from Rodri, which calmed the Spaniards down.
But the tension of playing a final was noticeable in the green and nobody seemed to be completely comfortable. The fouls in the center of the field multiplied and the two Spanish midfielders were loaded with yellow cards in a flash. With the rest knocking on the door, England decided to step on the accelerator. The post saved Tenas in Colwill's shot but already in added time, Palmer's foul, childish Sergio Gómez's action on the front, bounced off Jones and ended up in the net. The celebration of the young talent of the City, with a gesture to the Spanish bench included, unleashed a brawl that ended with the expulsion of a member of each coaching staff.
But the anger allowed drawing any scenario in a second half that promised strong emotions. It didn't take long for Spain to show that it had parked the tensions and only thought about drawing, England locked up practically until the last minute, with few exceptions such as Madueke's races, the scares always aborted by an exceptional Arnau Tenas. But it was Santi Denia's men who besieged the English area, including a goal from Abel Ruiz shortly after the restart, canceled for offside.
Despite Spain's numerous chances, Trafford hardly had a job. The aim was not adjusted at all. High and deflected shots followed one another. Riquelme's entrance oxygenated the Spanish attack, which was beginning to show signs of exhaustion, but did not provide the necessary insight in the final meters. With the final whistle about to turn into a slab, Colwill hit Abel Ruiz in the box and VAR called the referee. The contact was evident and he indicated the eleven meters. The rest is already sad history of Spanish football. The champion is England.
1 - Inglaterra: James Trafford, James Garner, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Levi Colwill, Max Aarons; Morgan Gibbs-White (Cameron Archer, m.73), Curtis Jones, Angel Gomes (Oliver Skipp, m.73), Cole Palmer (Harvey Elliott, m.82), Emile Smith Rowe (Noni Madueke, m.66); y Anthony Gordon (Thomas Doyle, m.82).
0 - Spain: Arnau Tenas; Víctor Gómez (Ander Barrenetxea, m.73), Aitor Paredes, Jon Pacheco, Juan Miranda; Antonio Blanco (Sergio Camello, m.82), Alex Baena (Aimar Oroz, m.59), Oihan Sancet (Gabri Veiga, m.59); Rodri Sánchez (Rodrigo Riquelme, m.59), Sergio Gómez and Abel Ruiz.
Goals: 1-0, m.48: Curtis Jones.
Referee: Espen Eskas (Norway). He admonished Alex Baena (m.34), Antonio Blanco (m.37), Oihan Sancet (m.51), Aimar Oroz (m.62) and Rodrigo Riquelme (m.86), for Spain; and Angel Gomes (m.23), Levi Colwill (m.51), Morgan Gibbs-White (m.69) and James Trafford (m.73), from England.
Incidents: Final of the European under-21 contested at the Batumi Arena in Batumi, Georgia, before some 20,000 spectators.
