England and Spain become Euro 2024 finalists
The England and Spain national teams have become finalists of the 2024 European Football Championship, which is being held in Germany. This was reported by a Lenta.ru correspondent.
The English defeated the Dutch, and the Spanish defeated the French. The decisive match of the tournament will take place on July 14 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and will begin at 22:00 Moscow time.
There is no third place match at the European Championship. The bronze medalists of the tournament were France and the Netherlands.
Euro 2024 final favourite named
The supercomputer of the statistical company Opta named the Spanish team as the tournament favourite, estimating the probability of the team’s victory at 57.3 percent. The English team’s victory is estimated at 42.7 percent.
England have never won the European Championship. They have participated in 10 of the 16 tournaments since 1968. Their best result is reaching the semi-finals in 1968, 1996 and 2020. The last time they lost the final match to the Italians in a penalty shootout.
Photo: Michaela Stache / Reuters
Spain are three-time European champions, winning the title in 1964, 2008 and 2012. They were the first team to defend the title.
England snatch victory from Netherlands
The match between the teams took place at the Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund and ended with a score of 2:1 in favor of the English. The first goal was scored in the seventh minute by the Dutch midfielder Xavi Simons into the far upper corner. In the 16th minute, defender Denzel Dumfries tried to block the shot of the English forward Harry Kane, after which the referee awarded an eleven-meter kick. Kane converted the penalty and equalized the score.
Photo: Reuters
In the second half, in the 90th minute, striker Ollie Watkins received a pass on the right side of the penalty area and shot into the far bottom corner from a tight angle. He scored a goal and brought victory to the English.
Kane becomes top scorer in European Championship playoffs in history
The England striker set a record by scoring his sixth goal in the knockout stages of the tournament. In second place is France’s Antoine Griezmann, who has five goals. Dragan Dzajic, Gerd Müller, Dieter Müller and Nuno Gomes have four goals each.
Dutch fans attack English fans
The incident occurred before the teams’ match. It is noted that fans of the Netherlands national team staged a series of attacks on the English in Dortmund bars. As a result of the incidents, five fans of the England team were injured.
The Dutch fans started throwing tables, chairs and bottles, and the English fans reacted to that. There was a lot of damage: a TV was broken, furniture was broken. It was scary and embarrassing. We will have to close
According to a bar employee, the fight started after Dutch fans tried to steal an England flag. During the scuffle, Dutch fans threw stools, benches and bottles.
England manager could receive knighthood
Gareth Southgate
Photo: Lee Smith / Reuters
Gareth Southgate could be given the honour even if his side fail to win the 2024 European Championship. Sources have told the publication that the government intends to put Southgate in line for a knighthood even if his side are knocked out of Euro 2024 and he loses his job.
However, the title may not be given to him straight away – for example, the late Bobby Robson was awarded this honour 12 years after he left the post of England’s head coach. It is noted that Southgate was close to becoming Sir after Euro 2020, when the England team reached the final of the tournament.
Source: Lenta
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
