A BASH IN BERLIN!!!

England and Spain clash in the European Championship final!

On Sunday, July 14th, the final for the European Championships will commence as England will duel Spain for the championship in Berlin. The matchup is between the two of the best teams all tournament, and both had very different roads to get to the final. The stage is set and the hype is only building to a fever pitch, but the challengers are battered and bruised, meaning that this final is all about proving themselves on the biggest stage in Europe.

For England, the road was more tough, facing strong team after strong team, under and overrated alike, and their road to the final involved many close calls against a plethora of opponents. Yes, Kane, Bellingham, Saka, and the likes have delivered in big time moments during this tournament, but in ways that have been unlike England in previous tournaments.

First in their Knockout road was Slovakia, the English fell behind early thanks to a goal by Ivan Schranz in the second part of the first half, which meant they needed Bellingham to tie the game at the last possible minute to avoid a major upset, which they got. Afterwards, Kane scored the goal in the first minutes of Extra Time to put the surprising Slovakians away for good, a sign of the heart stopping moments to come in the next two rounds.

In the quarterfinal clash against the Swiss, a trade of goals by Swiss striker Breel Embolo and England’s Buyako Saka sent the match to extra time, and then England’s most dreaded moment, penalties. It had become a running joke in the European Football community that England would choke in the penalties, as they have lost far more penalties than they have won, reaching a record of four wins and seven losses across major tournaments. However, England broke through and won the penalty shootout against the Swiss, surprising many due to how much England used to struggle in that field.

In a classic match with the Netherlands, it was another match against a team worthy of being in the Euro finals, with the two teams going back and forth all over Dortmund. Xavi Simmons hit a wonderful header early on to put the English on the back foot, but a penalty by Kane helped England tie the game with 15 minutes on the clock. Afterwards, it was a back and forth of failed opportunities, featuring a wonderful goal line save by Denzel Dumfries to stop an English goal in the 37th minute, among many opportunities that both teams stopped. However, it was not any of the stars for England who scored the last goal, but rather Winger Ollie Watkins who was the unexpected hero for England in the 90th minute, and his goal has sent his nation to a final set outside of England for the first time ever.

There are a lot of historical obstacles that England had to overcome in their road to this match, mainly underplaying underrated foes in Slovakia, overcoming Penalties against Switzerland, playing up to their potential in big matches against the Netherlands, and having a clutch factor in all of those matches. However, the biggest obstacle that England could face on Sunday is not Spain themselves, but the pressure put on to them by the media and their loyal fans.

The English media and fan base have been historically not kind to England’s traditional bow outs of tournaments such as getting eliminated by underdogs, underplaying in big matches, and missing crucial penalties. This pressure has hit a monumental high as of recent, due to how talented this English team is, and the fans and media who say it’s coming home each year has added another layer of pressure onto each English player, and in order to overcome Spain, they need to overcome their past and the media’s overtly high expectations and rather big criticisms to see themselves through.

The way England wins this final is by having their mindsets clear, they do need to play as a team and not a bunch of individuals like they have been doing every match so far, and Gareth Southgate needs to make the right moves like he did against the Netherlands to rejuvenate the offense late in the game. The English have been playing quite well in the late moments, but they need to be playing well all the time to overcome their opponents, the Spanish.

For Spain, it was complete domination of both possession and the scoreboard, which especially shines considering that they have not dropped a point all tournament. Their inexperienced and young core has been able to learn quickly what life is like at the top level, thanks to them dominating the group of death and advancing past opponents by ruthless defense and oppressive offense.

Georgia stood no chance against Spain, considering the seven to one and three to one beatings they took by Spain in their qualifying meetings, the meeting in Cologne was surely a sealed fate. Despite the Georgians scoring first thanks to an own goal by defender Robin Le Normad from the Spanish, goals by Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams Jr, and Dani Olmo, Spain cruised to a four to one win, putting the upstart Georgians out of their misery for the third time in a calendar year.

Germany, a surprisingly very strong team considering recent tournament results, was to meet the Spanish in the quarterfinals. This absolute war in Stuttgart saw 11 yellow cards and a red card handed across both teams and the general action was between two teams who played like they had everything to lose. After a very intense first half, Dani Olmo scored a nice goal in the 51st minute to put the Spanish ahead… but after over 30 minutes of German aggression, they finally broke through thanks to a Florian Wirtz goal in the 89th minute, sending the game to extras. After an intense last 30 minutes, substitute midfielder Mikel Merino scored the goal in the 119th minute to not only put the Spanish through to the semifinals, but leave the heavily German crowd in Stuttgart with heavy heartbreak.

Due to the hard toll that the Spanish had to take against Germany and reckless mistakes against Georgia, they were without many of their key defenders in their semifinal match against France. France did score first, courtesy of striker Randal Kolo Muani in the 9th minute for France’s first open field goal all tournament, which in the end did not matter. Due to goals by 16 year old winger Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo in the 21st and 27th minute respectively, Spain were the ones who punched their ticket to Berlin thanks to their deep team and very solid defensive play despite not having a majority of their defensive starters.

Spain got here through depth, explosive offensive capabilities, and their overall dominance of the ball. There is almost always a player either on the ball or right near it playing defense when teams play Spain, a testament to their aggression and youthful energy. Their usual early exiting selves did not decide to show up for this tournament, and history shows that if they do go deep, there’s a trophy on the other side. The team has overcome a lot of inexperience with raw energy and talent, but the final of a major stage is a completely different beast.

Spain has a couple of weaknesses spotted that England could take advantage of if Spain is not careful. First off, Spain love to play keep away once they have a lead late in the game, and that can heavily backfire on them, just like it did against the Germans when Wirtz scored the late goal to equalize and send the game to extras. Alongside that, they have almost always conceded a goal in every game they played in during the knockouts, and usually their opposition strikes first, something England is excellent at. Another key part is that although the young Spaniards have played well in big moments, the next question is that are the bright lights of a final too big for them, and that question must be answered with a profound yes if Spain want to get through.

The way Spain wins is by playing their aggressive defensive and offensive tactics and them not allowing England to touch the ball for long enough to create potentially dangerous chances. The left back position is a weakness for England, and if Spain can exploit that, they can toy with the English defense if they can exploit that properly. Alongside that, the experienced veterans like Navas need to be the ones taking charge late in the game, as they know exactly what to do in big matches like this.

This clash of the English and the Spanish in Berlin has a single main question on the pitch, and that is whose offensive firepower runs out first, as both are explosive dynamos in terms of not only star power, but offensive capabilities as well. In my opinion, England just has the experience in these moments and the overall greater firepower to overpower Spain and win their first ever European Championship and their first major title in 58 long years.