England manager Gareth Southgate pointed at fatigue and injuries as a reason England were unable to match Spain's control of much of the match or build on the momentum of Cole Palmer's 73rd minute equaliser after Nico Williams had put Spain ahead two minutes into the second half.
Former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes that the English player's failure to keep the ball caused them problems in their 2-1 Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain.
Goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal ensured that Spain lifted their fourth Euro title, and England became the first team to lose the final two consecutive times.
England's struggle to keep possession in their favour against a team like Spain came back to haunt them in the final. Throughout the game, they only had a 34 per cent share of the ball in comparison to Spain's 66.
Spain made most of the ball share and racked up 16 shots, with six on target. In reply, England fired nine shots, with four of them ending up on the target.
"We can focus on a lot of things, but Southgate's answer on how we did not keep the ball well enough should be the title of the England book," Neville told ITV Sport, as quoted by Sky Sports.
"Every single England manager has said the same thing, every single England player has felt the same thing because we have lived it out there on the pitch, our legs have gone and we end up dying on our feet in the latter part of games where the other team have got stronger. It is repeat, rinse and repeat. These lads have done incredibly well to get to a final, they have done more than we ever did, but some of the same patterns have occurred," he added.
In the first half, both teams defended well and could only muster up a shot each on target. Spain put their foot on the accelerator and took the lead moments after the second half began. Lamine Yamal with a brilliant piece of play on the right, found Willams in the open space on the other end. The youngster effortlessly slotted it into the back of the net.
England eventually managed to equalise in the 73rd minute following a first-time shot. Neville felt that England's lack of ability to control the game could have seen them trail by more goals before the equaliser.
"Spain had a lot of chances, they could have won the game before we equalised. We got back into it, but we could have been 2-0 down before that and to not control the biggest games has been a problem for England teams in many, many tournaments," he said.
"And to have to play from behind the ball and move your whole team up the pitch from the edge of your box to the other end of the pitch is very difficult. You can win the odd game doing that, you can win two or three games, but eventually, you play a team with too much quality and that is what we found tonight," he added.
In the 86th minute, Oyarzabal poked the ball into the back of the net to seal Spain's fourth Euro title. (ANI)
Southgate to discuss England future after Euro final defeat
England coach Gareth Southgate said he would discuss his future in charge of the national team after Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final left him once again trying to work out why glory had eluded his side.
England lost in the tournament's showpiece match for the second time in a row under Southgate after substitute Mikel Oyarzabal scored an 86th-minute goal to give Spain victory.
Asked whether he would continue in the job, Southgate told reporters: "I totally understand the question and understand you need to ask it, but I need to have those conversations with important people behind the scenes and I'm obviously not going to discuss that publicly first.
"Without a doubt, England have got some fabulous young players," he added. "We have now been consistently back in the matches that matter. It's the last step that we haven't been able to do."
England -- with only the 1966 World Cup to their name as a major trophy -- have become a force in tournaments since Southgate took over the team at a low ebb in 2016.
They reached a semi-final and a quarter-final at the last two World Cups as well as the final of Euro 2020 -- when they lost to Italy on penalties -- and 2024.
"It's hard to reflect so soon after a defeat like this," Southgate said when asked if he would be in charge of England for the 2026 World Cup.
"Of course, to take England to two finals has never been done but we came here to win and we haven't been able to do that."
Southgate congratulated Spain and said they were the best team of the tournament.
He pointed at fatigue and injuries as a reason England were unable to match Spain's control of much of the match or build on the momentum of Cole Palmer's 73rd minute equaliser after Nico Williams had put Spain ahead two minutes into the second half.
"I think in the main, at the end of the game, the physical issues that we had probably took their toll," Southgate said.
He spoke of his pride in the "incredible run" of his players to reach two European Championship finals back-to-back.
"But at the moment, I have to say, in my head none of that matters because we had an opportunity to win and we haven't been able to take it," Southgate added.
