England and India feel the agony and ecstasy in equal measure

20-24 June	INDIA 471 & 364 ENGLAND 465 & 373-5	ENGLAND won by five wickets	Headingley
2-6 July	INDIA 587 & 427-6 dec ENGLAND 407 & 271	INDIA won by 336 runs	Edgbaston
10-14 July	ENGLAND 387 & 192 INDIA 387 & 170	ENGLAND won by 22 runs	Lord's
23-27 July	INDIA 358 & 425-4 ENGLAND 669	DRAWN	Old Trafford
31-4 August	INDIA 224 & 396 ENGLAND 247 & 367	INDIA won by six runs	The Oval

INDIA pipped England by six runs to secure a 2-2 draw as an engrossing five-Test series concluded in thrilling fashion at the Oval. 

At 11:56am on the 25th day of cricket in the series out of a possible 25, player of the match Mohammed Siraj breached Gus Atkinson's defences - and the Indian fielders huddled together in joy as they celebrated their closest ever win in Tests. 

In fairness, across the seven weeks as a whole, a draw was a fair result - and both sides will be left to reflect on several spurned opportunities each. 

First, the ghosts of 2022 returned to haunt the tourists as England chased down an unlikely target of 371 to take the opening match at Headingley. 

Back in the early days of Bazball in July 2022, England chased 378 for the loss of only three wickets in a rearranged match against India at Edgbaston as Joe Root (142*) and Jonny Bairstow (114*) shared a glorious unbeaten stand of 269. 

This time, the damage was done at the top of the order as Zak Crawley (65) and Ben Duckett (149) set up the pursuit brilliantly before Root (53*) and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith (44*) finished things off. 

In the second Test at Edgbaston, though, the tourists made no mistake as their new captain Shubman Gill enjoyed something of a magnum opus. 

Gill headed into the series with an underwhelming average of 35.05 - but, having already scored 147 in the first innings at Lord's, the 25-year-old propelled his team to a comprehensive victory in Birmingham with 269 and 161. 

As such, Gill became the first player to record scores in excess of 250 and 150 in the same Test - as India made 587 and 427-6 declared to thrash England by the huge margin of 336 runs. 

Yet Stokes's men then responded brilliantly in a nerve-shredding third Test at Lord's where the teams were level on first innings and the sparks really began to fly. 

In a fascinating turn of events, India's innings ended at 6.14pm, shortly before the close of Day Three, leaving England openers Crawley and Duckett with around 10 minutes of batting during which they had very little to gain and their precious wicket to lose. 

And so we entered pantomime season. 

From the fifth ball of the England innings, delivered by Jasprit Bumrah, Crawley was hit on the glove and received treatment for long enough that only a measly single over was possible, much to the annoyance of the Indians. 

“Grow some f**king balls!” screamed skipper Gill to Crawley as the Kent man indulged in his delaying tactics. 

If anything, though, Crawley's time-wasting merely served to fire up the Indian bowlers on the following day as England struggled their way to a score of 192 - and fellow opener Duckett received an aggressive send-off from Siraj for which the seamer was fined 15% of his match fee. 

Notably, that was not Siraj's last contribution to this match as India then similarly struggled on a deteriorating Day Five pitch. 

At 112-8 on the stroke of lunch, the tourists were still 81 short of their target and England looked to have the win in the bag. 

Wily Ravindra Jadeja remained at the crease, however - and the 36-year-old expertly managed the strike with tail-enders Bumrah and then Siraj. 

But the prospect of the second new ball seemed to spook Jadeja into a change of tack with runs taking on a greater emphasis as the victory line moved ever closer.  

To be fair to him, Siraj largely batted well and did his job - until suddenly he didn't. 

Facing Shoaib Bashir, who was bowling his off-spin with a broken finger sustained while batting, Siraj looked to have made another safe block from the fifth ball of the 75th over. 

As the ball hit the pitch though, some wicked back-spin took it past the unsuspecting Siraj and clunked into leg stump, removing one of the bails to bring a decidedly odd end to a fantastic match. 

Elated England thus squeaked the win by 22 runs, regaining the lead in the series at 2-1 with two matches to play - and the hosts set about pressing home their advantage after winning the toss for the fourth time out of four at the start of the Test at Old Trafford. 

However, Manchester decided not to play ball - and a slow flat pitch produced a largely mind-numbing encounter as an aggregate of 1,452 runs were scored for the loss of 14 wickets in only the second draw out of 33 matches in the Bazball era. 

Old Trafford was also the venue for the first draw which arguably cost England their greatest Ashes series comeback of all time as typical Manchester rain intervened to wipe out almost two days of play. 

Notably, all six Lancashire matches at the ground in the County Championship have also ended in draws. 

Simply put, Old Trafford might not be able to do much about the rain - but, for all the tradition at the venue, it can also do so much better. 

There were still some notable moments as Root compiled a 38th century - fourth on the all-time list - and went second on the all-time list of Test run scorers. 

For the record, the Yorkshireman finished the series with 39 tons and 13,543 career Test runs, 2,378 behind legendary Indian record-holder Sachin Tendulkar. 

But perhaps the match will be most remembered for Jadeja rejecting Stokes's handshake on a draw as he approached a fifth Test century on a ridiculously placid surface. 

Now, normally Stokes can be generally considered to have good judgement on a cricket field - and, in this matter, he was only acting in line with the ingrained tradition that a captain offers his hand after deciding victory was no longer possible. 

At the same time, Jadeja and Washington Sundar were well within their rights to bat on, especially the latter given that the pitch pretty much guaranteed him a maiden Test century. 

Indeed, this was an incident rather blown out of all proportion - compared to the rather more questionable behaviour of the India coach Gautam Gambhir as he ended up in an unsavoury row with pitch curator Lee Fortis ahead of the fifth Test at the Oval. 

Then again, it was perhaps no surprise Gambhir wanted a closer look at the first proper green-top of the series - and, under the clouds, it was equally unsurprising that England opted to bowl after winning the toss yet again despite fielding a much-changed bowling attack. 

Over the course of the series, England selected no fewer than nine frontline bowlers with only Chris Woakes appearing in all five matches. 

Even he eventually ended up as a complete wreck after sustaining a suspected dislocated shoulder on the opening day at the Oval. 

So, while not exactly helped by such docile surfaces in a sun-baked summer, the English attack without James Anderson and Stuart Broad is a major cause for concern - especially ahead of an away Ashes series. 

Jofra Archer bowled well when called upon but remains largely wrapped up in cotton wool given his horrendous injury record. 

Meanwhile, the only other genuine 90mph bowler, Mark Wood, did not feature at all as he continues to recover from a crocked knee. 

As such, it was skipper Stokes, an all-rounder, who was often the most threatening England bowler - but, having taken on 35 overs in the fourth Test, he also ruled himself out of playing the finale. 

England missed him badly at the Oval - bowling erratically and fielding worse - though the hosts were understandably damaged by a further injury, this time to Woakes, as they were left effectively with just a three-man seam-only attack. 

Indeed, at 177-2 and 229-4 in their second innings, India had the chance to bat England out of the contest entirely - but, the improving Josh Tongue earned a second Test five-for as the visitors were dismissed for 396. 

The mouth-watering target for England was 374 - historically difficult but in exactly the same ballpark as the chase at Headingley and several others in the Bazball era. 

At lunch on Day Four, the hosts were rebuilding with Root and Harry Brook at 164-3 following another under-par second innings effort of 27 from stand-in captain Ollie Pope. 

Twin centurions Root and Brook extended their partnership to 195 as Siraj had another moment to forget after stepping on the boundary rope while catching Brook at fine leg. 

In keeping with the series though, India roared back as Brook lost control of his bat while holing out shortly before tea and the returning Jacob Bethell was bowled by Prasidh Krishna shortly after. 

However, before a heavy shower and bad light brought a premature close of play, India put themselves right back in with a chance as Root feathered behind with England still 37 runs short. 

Smith, Jamie Overton and Tongue offered only limited resistance on Day Five - and Woakes, with his arm in a sling under his whites, made his way tenderly to the crease to join Atkinson. 

Then, amazingly, India - on top at last - briefly lost their nerve as Atkinson slogged Siraj for six, then Woakes managed to get to the other end off the last ball for a bye to stay off strike. 

From the next over, bowled by Prasidh, Woakes somehow defied absolute agony to run two before another single off the last again kept Atkinson on strike with seven runs needed to win. 

But Siraj, who had an extraordinary series of ups and downs, was too good for his English counterpart - and, as the ball clattered into off-stump, the Indian's rollercoaster campaign finished on a big high with a fifth career five-for in Tests. 

It ensured, of course, that India matched their 2-2 series score from 2021-22 - while the last Ashes series also finished 2-2. 

So, while England certainly make a conscious effort not to play for draws, there is a frustrating irony in the fact that their three biggest home series since 2022 have all finished level.


CENTURIES
  INDIA 12-9 ENGLAND

269	Shubman Gill	India	Second Test, Edgbaston (1)
184*	Jamie Smith	England	Second Test, Edgbaston (2)
161	Shubman Gill	India	Second Test, Edgbaston (3)
158	Harry Brook	England	Second Test, Edgbaston (2)
150	Joe Root	England	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (2)
149	Ben Duckett	England	First Test, Headingley (4)
147	Shubman Gill	India	First Test, Headingley (1)
141	Ben Stokes	England	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (2)
137	KL Rahul	India	First Test, Headingley (3)
134	Rishabh Pant	India	First Test, Headingley (1)
118	Rishabh Pant	India	First Test, Headingley (3)
118	Yashasvi Jaiswal	India	Fifth Test, The Oval (3)
111	Harry Brook	England	Fifth Test, The Oval (4)
107*	Ravindra Jadeja	India	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (3)
106	Ollie Pope	England	First Test, Headingley (2)
105	Joe Root	England	Fifth Test, The Oval (4)
104	Joe Root	England	Third Test, Lord's (1)
103	Shubman Gill	India	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (3)
101*	Washington Sundar	India	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (3)
101	Yashasvi Jaiswal	India	First Test, Headingley (1)
100	KL Rahul	India	Third Test, Lord's (2)

FIVE-FORS
  INDIA 5-3 ENGLAND

6-70	Mohammed Siraj	India	Second Test, Edgbaston (2)
6-99	Akash Deep	India	Second Test, Edgbaston (4)
5-33	Gus Atkinson	England	Fifth Test, The Oval (1)
5-72	Ben Stokes	England	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (1)
5-74	Jasprit Bumrah	India	Third Test, Lord's (1)
5-83	Jasprit Bumrah	India	First Test, Headingley (2)
5-104	Mohammed Siraj	India	Fifth Test, The Oval (4)
5-125	Josh Tongue	England	Fifth Test, The Oval (3)

The summer Jimmy (and Mo) caught the train

ENGLAND finished the Test summer on their lowest note since Kiwi head coach Brendon McCullum took charge in May 2022 after a woeful eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka at the Oval. 

Previously, it had looked as if England were going to be able to move on from the James Anderson era in impressive fashion by claiming a clean sweep of both home Test series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka. 

But the collective performance of the team against the Sri Lankans in the third Test smacked of the sort of arrogance of which England are probably often wrongly accused. 

Losing the toss for the third time in the series, the home side nevertheless reached a solid 221-3 at the end of a first day which was marred by bad light and the strange eagerness of umpires Chris Gaffaney and Joel Wilson to take the players off the pitch at the earliest opportunity. 

It meant ticket holders saw only 44 overs on a day of absolutely no rain in south London whatsoever - and it rightly reopened the debate over whether punters were getting sufficient value for money. 

Back to the match itself - and, on day two, England progressed to 261-3 but then proceeded to throw away their wickets with a series of loose shots, losing 7-64 to finish on a suboptimal total of 325. 

Following that, some outrageously attacking fields bordered on being somewhat disrespectful to Sri Lanka - while a further element of farce was introduced by umpires Gaffaney and Wilson in the seventh over. 

Examining their light meters, the officials insisted Chris Woakes finished his fourth set by bowling four balls of club-standard off-spin despite sunshine beginning to beam through the clouds.

Then, Gus Atkinson was allowed to take the next over and bowl at 88mph - and, considering this was meant to be elite sport, much of the action and officiating on display left a lot to be desired. 

Rather more satisfyingly, England produced a better performance with the ball at the start of day three to dismiss their opponents for 263 and gain a seemingly handy first innings lead of 62.

Here then was the chance for the home side to bat Sri Lanka out of the game and make a major stride towards that clean sweep of victories. 

Instead, England were 71-6 at the afternoon drinks break as left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando began to swing the ball beautifully. 

Then that became 82-7 in front of a stunned Oval crowd before Jamie Smith, to his credit, made 67 in a fine counter-attacking effort to drag England's lead beyond 200 at tea. 

On a pitch offering plenty, a prime English bowling unit might have been able to defend the 219 runs required by Sri Lanka - but this extremely raw attack was badly exposed against the finesse of Pathum Nissanka. 

The opener carried his bat for a delightful Test career-best 127 to earn his country a memorable win, 26 years on from the triumph in their only other visit to the Oval in 1998.

By contrast, for England, this was a highly damaging defeat which effectively ended their already slim hopes of a maiden appearance in the World Test Championship final.

Now, it seems quite a while ago - even though the first home Test of the year did not take place until July to accommodate the ICC T20 World Cup which took place throughout June.

But Anderson's retirement remained the main story of an underwhelming Test season - one without a high-profile visitor to these shores and in which tickets went unsold while big sporting events such as the Olympics, Paralympics and European Championship happened elsewhere. 

Ahead of the first Test against the West Indies at Lord's, Anderson announced it would be his last after the England hierarchy stated explicitly that, in preparation for the next away Ashes series, he would not be considered for any squads beyond the end of the summer. 

In that sense, it was a slightly awkward departure - but, although the now 42-year-old felt he still had more to give, he also confirmed understood the decision and there were no hard feelings. 

This was a far more understated farewell than that of his long-time strike partner Stuart Broad, who retired against the old enemy Australia by scoring a six from his final ball with the bat and taking a wicket with his final ball, 

And, in itself, that was quite typical of Anderson. While Broad finished with a fantastic return of 604 wickets, he particularly relished Ashes contests and revelled in picking his moments. 

By contrast, Anderson was simply the embodiment of consistency. Indeed, the opposition did not seem to matter to him as long as he was taking wickets. 

Never the fastest, the Burnley Express made up for a lack of outright pace with a prodigious ability to swing and reverse swing the ball. Sometimes, in cloudy and humid conditions, he was pretty much unplayable. 

Anderson, though, was more than a mere one-trick pony - and it was obvious he worked hard at his craft throughout his career. 

Unusually for a pace bowler, his average - like a fine wine - continued to improve with age, and even in overseas conditions - the flatter decks of Australia and rank turners in the subcontinent - he was rarely less than miserly in controlling the run-rate on days when he could not be at his penetrative best. 

Strangely, on English soil for his final Test, Anderson was in fact not quite at his best as, perhaps for once, the emotion of the occasion got the better of him. 

It certainly was not the West Indies batting outfit - and, even in this rather quiet conclusion to his career, he still took 1-26 and 3-32 to finish on an incredible 704 Test scalps. 

On the all-time list, Jimmy from Burnley sits third with only two spinners - Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka (800) and the late Aussie great Shane Warne (708) - above him. 

Now, the strain on the body and the sheer plethora of opportunities available in the game for pace bowlers to swan off to less physically demanding and money-rich T20 competitions means that Anderson's record might never be beaten. 

However, Anderson loved the elongated struggle provided by First Class cricket - and, despite the positive results for England this summer, his longevity and consistency leaves a massive hole to fill. 

In fairness, there are some signs that England will be able finally to move on from the Anderson-Broad axis.

Surrey fast-bowler Atkinson enjoyed a dream debut, taking 7-45 and 5-61 for match figures of 12-106, as England blew away the West Indies for 121 and 136 in the first Test at Lord's. 

More remarkably still, Atkinson produced this effort despite playing while the speeding driver who killed his mother in a crash was being sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to eight-and-a-half years in prison.

And, commendably, the 26-year-old continued to take wickets throughout the summer to finish the home Test season on 34 scalps at an average of 20.17. 

Thankfully, for the sake of cricket, the second Test against the Windies at Trent Bridge was slightly more competitive as the visitors registered a score of 457 - and even took a first innings lead of 41 runs. 

On a good wicket in Nottingham, though, England also made hay with the bat, scoring 400+ scores in both innings for the first time in history as Ollie Pope (121), Joe Root (122) and Harry Brook (109) all reached three figures during the match. 

Inevitably, the resulting chase of 385 proved far too much for the West Indies as young spinner Shoaib Bashir made his first major contribution in an England shirt with a match-winning 5-41. 

As such, Bashir notably became - at the age of 20 years and 279 days - the youngest England bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a home Test, coincidentally taking that record from Anderson. 

In the third Test at Edgbaston, West Indies - merely trying to salvage some pride - elected to bat in the third Test at Edgbaston, but could only produce another under-par effort of 282 in the first innings. 

The second innings was even tougher for the men from the Caribbean as Mark Wood (5-40) proved far too hot to handle - and openers Ben Duckett and skipper Ben Stokes were able easily to knock off the runs for a 10-wicket victory inside three days.

Stokes had opened the batting for only the second time in his Test career after Zak Crawley fractured a finger in the field. 

By the time that the Sri Lanka series came around, though, Stokes too was injured after tearing his left hamstring while playing for the Northern Superchargers in the truly lamentable Hundred competition.

That meant instead that Dan Lawrence came in at the top of the order - but the 27-year-old middle-order man rarely looked comfortable in the role and scored just 120 runs at an average of 20, with a top score of 35.

Lawrence was not alone in his struggles. Brook disappointed for the first time in a series while stand-in skipper Ollie Pope seemed slightly overawed by the position and his form suffered badly until his 154 in a losing cause. 

Consequently, the batting unit was again more often than not propped up by Root - and his twin tons in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's took him above Sir Alastair Cook to the top of the list of England century-makers in the format. 

Root now has 34 Test centuries and 12,402 runs - and his uncharacteristic failure to produce a significant score in the third Test defeat only served to emphasise just how greatly England rely upon their former captain. 

Wicket-keeper Smith at least can hold his head up following a more than decent start to his own Test career. 

Consistently smart behind the stumps with his glovework, the 24-year-old also made significant contributions with the bat including a maiden Test century in the first Test at Old Trafford to take that match away from Sri Lanka. 

Indeed, this was still a largely successful summer for an England team which is clearly in transition - and too much introspection for a side in development can be just as damaging as too little. 

Not that there is a lot of time for a deep analysis in any case. The Test team are back in action in just 26 days on 7 October in a three-match tour of Pakistan ahead of a further three games away in New Zealand before Christmas. 

And, prior to all that, England take on Australia in three home T20 Internationals and five One-Day Internationals in a series of matches which will begin today and end on 29 September as mid-autumn approaches. 

The main significance of the white-ball matches is that they will be the first for the team under McCullum after the 42-year-old replaced tactical dunce Matthew Mott

Unsurprisingly, McCullum has already moved to put his own stamp on the squads - and there is no room for 37-year-old Moeen Ali. 

Moeen took the decision upon his omission to retire from international cricket - but, while he cannot boast the sort of figures achieved by Anderson, his tally of 204 Test wickets included a dozen in the successful 2015 Ashes series. 

Meanwhile, Moeen's willingness to bat anywhere in the order made him a key figure over the years in white-ball squads - and he played a part in the triumphant 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup tournaments. 

Nevertheless, with little room for sentiment, the Bazball revolution continues unabated - and, despite the patchy results and some annoying performances, it has been largely good couple of years following the staid tactics of Chris Silverwood. 

But, with all of the teams united once again under one coach and an Ashes series just over a year away, the McCullum era really has now begun to enter the phase on which it truly will be judged. 


RESULTS

	WEST INDIES • England won the series 3-0
10-14 July	England 371 beat West Indies 121 & 136 by an innings and 114 runs	Lord's
18-21 July	England 416 & 425 beat West Indies 457 & 143 by 241 runs	Trent Bridge
26-28 July	England 376 & 87-0 beat West Indies 282 & 175 by 10 wickets	Headingley
	SRI LANKA • England won the series 2-1
21-24 August	England 358 & 205-5 beat Sri Lanka 236 & 326 by five wickets	Old Trafford
29 August -1 September	England 427 & 251 beat Sri Lanka 196 & 292 by 190 runs	Lord's
6-9 September	Sri Lanka 263 & 219-2 beat England 325 & 156 by eight wickets	The Oval

FIXTURES

	AUSTRALIA • Fixtures
11 September	FIRST T20  (D/N)	Southampton
13 September	SECOND T20  (D/N)	Cardiff
15 September	THIRD T20  (D/N)	Old Trafford
19 September	FIRST ODI  (D/N)	Trent Bridge
21 September	SECOND ODI	Headingley
24 September	THIRD ODI  (D/N)	Chester-le-Street
27 September	FOURTH ODI  (D/N)	Lord's
29 September	FIFTH ODI	Bristol

	PAKISTAN • Fixtures
7-11 October	FIRST TEST	Multan
15-19 October	SECOND TEST	Karachi
24-28 October	THIRD TEST	Rawalpindi
	NEW ZEALAND • Fixtures
27 November- 1 December	FIRST TEST	Christchurch
5-9 December	SECOND TEST	Wellington
13-17 December	THIRD TEST	Hamilton

Euro 2024 Final: Still waiting, still hurting

🟥 EURO 2024 FINAL 🟥

SPAIN 2 Williams 47, Oyarzabal 86
ENGLAND 1 Palmer 73

Spain Unai Simon, Carvajal, Le Normand (Nacho 83), Laporte, Cucurella, Rodri (Zubimendi 46), Olmo, Fabian Ruiz, Morata, Williams, Yamal (Merino 89) Booked Olmo
England Pickford, Walker, Stones, Guehi, Saka, Mainoo (Palmer 70), Rice, Shaw, Foden (Toney 89), Bellingham, Kane (Watkins 61) Booked Kane, Stones
Attendance 65,600 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin Referee  Francois Letexier (France)
Kick-off 8pm BST. Live on BBC and ITV.

SPAIN crushed England dreams of a first major trophy in 58 years as Mikel Oyarzabal struck with only four minutes left in Berlin to win the Euro 2024 Final.

Substitute Oyarzabal converted a cross from the left by Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella as La Roja lifted the European Championship trophy for a record fourth time, following previous triumphs in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

But, for England, the wait to add a second title to the 1966 World Cup goes on, despite Fate teasing the Three Lions at the end that they could bring the match level for a second time.

Semi final hero Ollie Watkins mis-controlled a sharp ball by Jude Bellingham into his feet in the box - before an excellent delivery off a corner by Cole Palmer found Declan Rice rising to bring a point-blank save from Unai Simon.

The ball rebounded to Marc Guehi who did everything he could to get his header on target, only for Dani Olmo to clear off the line. Rice then sent a third header harmlessly over the bar.

For once in this tournament then, after the recoveries in previous knockout rounds against Slovakia and Switzerland - and the late winner in the semi final against Netherlands - there was no dividend paid out to England for their attempted comeback. 

Yet, prior to Oyarzabal's goal, it looked as if Gareth Southgate's men just might be about to pull off something special.

Of course, to begin with, the match took on a predictable pattern. Spain dominated possession and threatened to open up England on several occasions - but the Three Lions kept their shape and, for the most part, looked pretty comfortable.

England even threw a few of their own punches - and both teams will have walked down the tunnel at the interval satisfied with the state of play.

Within seconds of the restart, though, everything changed.

Teenager Lamine Yamal cut in from the right, shrugging off Luke Shaw to leave several England players in his wake on the edge of the box.

A simple ball to his left found the unmarked Nico Williams with space and time to pick his spot - and the winger made absolutely no mistake with his finish.

At least it was a familiar position for England in this tournament - against Slovakia in the Last 16, Bellingham rescued a draw in the 95th minute before Harry Kane's header at the start of extra time.

Against Switzerland in the quarter finals, Bukayo Saka struck an 80th-minute equaliser only minutes after England had fallen behind - before the Three Lions progressed with a perfect set of spot-kicks.

Then, against Netherlands in the semi final, Watkins prevented another torturous extra time period with a wonderful turn-and-shot in the 90th minute.

But Spain were another proposition altogether - and La Roja had chances to put the match out of England's reach through Olmo, who unusually missed the target, and Yamal who brought the best out of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

At 1-0 down, though, England knew they were still in with a chance - and, in a rare foray deep into Spanish territory, Saka strode down the right and found Bellingham in the box.

The Real Madrid man's well-paced lay-off allowed Chelsea's impressive youngster Palmer to drive through the ball first-time into the bottom corner for a wonderful equaliser.

Game on - but, in truth, the pattern of the match did not change, with England seemingly happy enough to coast with the scores level towards extra time.

By contrast, Spain continued to look for gaps - and, with time running out before an extension to the match, Oyarzabal succeeded in cracking open the lock on the treasure chest.

For sure, those late chances for Watkins, Rice and Guehi made this feel like a cruel defeat for England in a match in which they never looked completely outclassed.

Equally, though, Southgate's side were clearly second-best in this Final - and, while it hurts right now to admit it, that is not something of which to be ashamed in the face of this delightful Spain team.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri was awarded player of the tournament - but the excellent Olmo can count himself particularly unlucky not to have taken that prize after his three goals in three separate knockout stage games, and that goal-line clearance.

Down the left, Athletic Bilbao winger Williams provided a constant threat - while, on the other flank, the Spanish unveiled their latest diamond.

There is nothing rough about Yamal, though - and, though Shaw generally kept the 17-year-old relatively subdued, the Barcelona teenager has already demonstrated enough to make it clear that he is a star in the making.

Indeed, Olmo, Williams, Yamal and Fabian Ruiz all compensated for their misfiring skipper Alvaro Morata by using space down the wings and swarming the box.

By contrast, from an attacking perspective, England had an extremely limited tactical approach which left them too reliant on moments of fortune and individual pieces of football genius.

Thankfully, there were actually quite a few of both of those - and, notably without the latter, this campaign would have finished in a woeful defeat to Slovakia.

All the way through this tournament though, England were unable to construct attacks in a consistent and structured fashion.

Kane infuriatingly kept dropping far too deep, Phil Foden and Bellingham failed to pick up the slack when he did, while the likes of Palmer, Eberechi Eze and Anthony Gordon in particular needed to be given far more opportunity than they were.

In his post-match interview, head coach Southgate insisted now "is not the time" to make a decision on his future - but, by the end of Tuesday morning, he had resigned.

Southgate moves on with his head held high, having enhanced his CV after overseeing runs to the 2018 World Cup semi finals, the Euro 2020+1 Final, and now the Euro 2024 Final.

Even the 2022 World Cup concluded with a creditable defeat to defending champions and eventual runners-up France at the quarter final stage.

England have literally never seen such a sustained period of being thereabouts in successive tournaments, though sadly they never made it there.

Certainly, it is a far cry from the mess which Southgate inherited in 2016 when, less than six months after the humiliating defeat to Iceland, he followed on from the grubby Sam Allardyce misadventure.

On that note, Southgate represented his position well, respecting his opponents and addressing the issue of racism on social media and in the stands in a calm and rational manner.

In this way at least, he did not shy away from his responsibilities as an England representative.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, the 53-year-old led England through as many knockout stage progressions - nine - as all of his predecessors combined.

Under Southgate, the Three Lions also topped their group in major tournaments on successive occasions for the first time ever - and, in fact, have done it three times in a row since Euro 2020+1.

So, for all the talk of favourable draws in the knockout stages, England have helped themselves with an uncharacteristic knack of making qualifying and group stages look easy.

Eight years is a long enough period to be in charge, though - and Southgate's stubborn selection choices and refusal even to consider altering his defensive tactical approach led to an increasingly fractious relationship with the Three Lions fanbase.

Atomic Kitten and all that seems a long time ago now - and, starved of any major trophy success since 1966, England fans are desperate for a trophy-winning manager, rather than a well-spoken diplomat who, upon his promotion from Under-21 coach, merely happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Nevertheless, any new coach will still face the same issue which has troubled England for decades and which Southgate, for all his group wins and knockout stage progressions, did not get any closer to solving.

Since Euro 2000, England have only beaten three teams ranked in the top 10 in the world in major tournament finals - Germany in 2000, Argentina in 2002 via a David Beckham penalty and Denmark in extra time in 2021.

Surely, though, a fresh broom is the only way to get the best out of a supremely talented squad who often succeeded in matches at this tournament despite the coach - and not because of him. 

🟥 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP ROLL OF HONOUR 🟥

Year	Champions	Runner-up	England performance	England coach
1960	SOVIET UNION	Yugoslavia	Did not enter	Walter Winterbottom
1964	SPAIN	Soviet Union	Preliminary round	Sir Alf Ramsey
1968	ITALY	Yugoslavia	Semi finals (third)	Sir Alf Ramsey
1972	WEST GERMANY	Soviet Union	Quarter finals* *not part of finals tournament	Sir Alf Ramey
1976	CZECHOSLOVAKIA	West Germany	Did not qualify	Don Revie
1980	WEST GERMANY	Belgium	Group stage	Ron Greenwood
1984	FRANCE	Spain	Did not qualify	Sir Bobby Robson
1988	NETHERLANDS	Soviet Union	Group stage	Sir Bobby Robson
1992	DENMARK	Germany	Group stage	Graham Taylor
1996	GERMANY	Czech Republic	Semi finals	Terry Venables
2000	FRANCE	Italy	Group stage	Kevin Keegan
2004	GREECE	Portugal	Quarter finals	Sven-Goran Eriksson
2008	SPAIN	Germany	Did not qualify	Steve McClaren
2012	SPAIN	Italy	Quarter finals	Roy Hodgson
2016	PORTUGAL	France	Last 16	Roy Hodgson
2020+1	ITALY	England	Runners-up	Gareth Southgate
2024	SPAIN	England	Runners-up	Gareth Southgate

🟥 EURO 2024 GROUP STAGE 🟥

■ GROUP A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) GERMANY	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7
(Q) SWITZERLAND	1	2	0	5	3	+2	5
HUNGARY	1	0	2	2	5	-3	3
SCOTLAND	0	1	2	2	7	-5	1

14-June	20:00	GERMANY	5-1	SCOTLAND	Munich
ITV		Wirtz 10, Musiala 19 Havertz 45+1pen Fullkrug 68, Can 90+3		Rudiger 87og
15-June	14:00	HUNGARY	1-3	SWITZERLAND	Cologne
ITV		Varga 66		Duah 12, Aebischer 45 Embolo 90+3
19-June	17:00	GERMANY	2-0	HUNGARY	Stuttgart
BBC		Musiala 22, Gundogan 67
19-June	20:00	SCOTLAND	1-1	SWITZERLAND	Cologne
BBC		McTominay 13		Shaqiri 26
23-June	20:00	SWITZERLAND	1-1	GERMANY	Frankfurt
BBC		Ndoye 29		Fullkrug 90+2
23-June	20:00	SCOTLAND	0-1	HUNGARY	Stuttgart
BBC				Csoboth 90+10

■ GROUP B	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) SPAIN	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
(Q) ITALY	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
CROATIA	0	2	1	3	6	-3	2
ALBANIA	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

15-June	17:00	SPAIN	3-0	CROATIA	Berlin
ITV		Morata 29, Fabian Ruiz 32 Carvajal 45+2
15-June	20:00	ITALY	2-1	ALBANIA	Dortmund
BBC		Bastoni 11, Barella 16		Bajrami 1
19-June	14:00	CROATIA	2-2	ALBANIA	Hamburg
ITV		Kramaric 74, Gjasula 76og		Laci 11, Gjasula 90+5
20-June	20:00	SPAIN	1-0	ITALY	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Calafiori 55og
24-June	20:00	ALBANIA	0-1	SPAIN	Dusseldorf
BBC				Ferran Torres 13
24-June	20:00	CROATIA	1-1	ITALY	Leipzig
BBC		Modric 55		Zaccagni 90+8

■ GROUP C	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ENGLAND	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
(Q) DENMARK	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
(Q) SLOVENIA	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
SERBIA	0	2	1	1	2	-1	2

16-June	17:00	SLOVENIA	1-1	DENMARK	Stuttgart
ITV		Janza 77		Eriksen 17
16-June	20:00	SERBIA	0-1	ENGLAND	Gelsenkirchen
BBC				Bellingham 13
20-June	14:00	SLOVENIA	1-1	SERBIA	Munich
ITV		Karnicnik 69		Jovic 90+6
20-June	17:00	DENMARK	1-1	ENGLAND	Frankfurt
BBC		Hjulmand 34		Kane 18
25-June	20:00	ENGLAND	0-0	SLOVENIA	Cologne
ITV
25-June	20:00	DENMARK	0-0	SERBIA	Munich
ITV

■ GROUP D	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) AUSTRIA	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6
(Q) FRANCE	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
(Q) NETHERLANDS	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
POLAND	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

16-June	14:00	POLAND	1-2	NETHERLANDS	Hamburg
BBC		Buksa 16		Gakpo 29, Weghorst 83
17-June	20:00	AUSTRIA	0-1	FRANCE	Dusseldorf
ITV				Wober 38og
21-June	17:00	POLAND	1-3	AUSTRIA	Berlin
ITV		Piatek 30		Trauner 9, Baumgartner 66 Arnautovic 78pen
21-June	20:00	NETHERLANDS	0-0	FRANCE	Leipzig
BBC
25-June	17:00	NETHERLANDS	2-3	AUSTRIA	Berlin
BBC		Gakpo 47, Depay 75		Malen 6og, Schmid 59 Sabitzer 80
25-June	17:00	FRANCE	1-1	POLAND	Dortmund
BBC		Mbappe 56pen		Lewandowski 79pen

■ GROUP E	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ROMANIA	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
(Q) BELGIUM	1	1	1	2	1	+1	4
(Q) SLOVAKIA	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
UKRAINE	1	1	1	2	4	-2	4

17-June	14:00	ROMANIA	3-0	UKRAINE	Munich
BBC		Stanciu 29, R Marin 53 Dragus 57
17-June	17:00	BELGIUM	0-1	SLOVAKIA	Frankfurt
ITV				Schranz 7
21-June	14:00	SLOVAKIA	1-2	UKRAINE	Dusseldorf
BBC		Schranz 17		Shaparenko 54, Yaremchuk 80
22-June	20:00	BELGIUM	2-0	ROMANIA	Cologne
ITV		Tielemans 2, De Bruyne 80
26-June	17:00	SLOVAKIA	1-1	ROMANIA	Frankfurt
BBC		Duda 24		R Marin 37pen
26-June	17:00	UKRAINE	0-0	BELGIUM	Stuttgart
BBC

■ GROUP F	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) PORTUGAL	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6
(Q) TURKEY	2	0	1	5	5	0	6
(Q) GEORGIA	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
CZECH REPUBLIC	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

18-June	17:00	TURKEY	3-1	GEORGIA	Dortmund
BBC		Muldur 25, Guler 65 Akturkoglu 90+7		Mikautadze 32
18-June	20:00	PORTUGAL	2-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Leipzig
BBC		Hranac 69og, Conceicao 90+2		Provod 62
22-June	14:00	GEORGIA	1-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Hamburg
BBC		Mikautadze 45+4pen		Schick 59
22-June	17:00	TURKEY	0-3	PORTUGAL	Dortmund
ITV				Bernardo Silva 21, Akaydin 28og Bruno Fernandes 55
26-June	20:00	GEORGIA	2-0	PORTUGAL	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Kvaratskhelia 2 Mikautadze 57pen
26-June	20:00	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-2	TURKEY	Hamburg
ITV		Soucek 66		Calhanoglu 51, Tosun 90+4

■ THIRD-PLACED TEAMS	Group	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) NETHERLANDS	[D]	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
(Q) GEORGIA	[F]	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
(Q) SLOVAKIA	[E]	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
(Q) SLOVENIA	[C]	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
HUNGARY	[A]	1	0	2	2	5	-3	3
CROATIA	[B]	0	2	1	3	6	-3	2

🟥 EURO 2024 KNOCKOUT STAGE 🟥

■ LAST 16

29-June	17:00	SWITZERLAND	2-0	ITALY	Berlin
BBC		Freuler 37, Vargas 46
29-June	20:00	GERMANY	2-0	DENMARK	Dortmund
ITV		Havertz 53pen, Musiala 68
30-June	17:00	ENGLAND	2-1	SLOVAKIA	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Bellingham 90+5, Kane 91	aet	Schranz 25
30-June	20:00	SPAIN	4-1	GEORGIA	Cologne
ITV		Rodri 39, Fabian Ruiz 51 Williams 75, Olmo 83		Le Normand 18og
01-July	17:00	FRANCE	1-0	BELGIUM	Dusseldorf
ITV		Vertonghen 85og
01-July	20:00	PORTUGAL	0-0	SLOVENIA	Frankfurt
BBC		Portugal won 3-0 on penalties	aet
02-July	17:00	ROMANIA	0-3	NETHERLANDS	Munich
BBC				Gakpo 20, Malen 83, 90+3
02-July	20:00	AUSTRIA	1-2	TURKEY	Leipzig
ITV		Gregoritsch 66		Demiral 1, 59

■ QUARTER FINALS

05-July	17:00	SPAIN	2-1	GERMANY	Stuttgart
ITV		Olmo 51, Merino 119	aet	Wirtz 89
05-July	20:00	PORTUGAL	0-0	FRANCE	Hamburg
BBC			aet	France won 5-3 on penalties
06-July	17:00	ENGLAND	1-1	SWITZERLAND	Dusseldorf
BBC		Saka 80 England won 5-3 on penalties	aet	Embolo 75
06-July	20:00	NETHERLANDS	2-1	TURKEY	Berlin
ITV		De Vrij 70, Muldur 76og		Akaydin 35

■ SEMI FINALS

09-July	20:00	SPAIN	2-1	FRANCE
BBC		Yamal 21, Olmo 25		Kolo Muani 9

Spain Unai Simon; Jesus Navas (Vivian 58), Nacho, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Yamal (Torres 90+3), Olmo (Merino 76), Williams (Zubimendi 90+4); Morata (Oyarzabal 76) Booked Jesus Navas, Yamal
France Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez T; Kante (Griezmann 62), Tchoumeni, Rabiot (Camavinga 62); Dembele (Giroud 79), Koli Muani (Barcola 63), Mbappe Booked Tchoumeni
Attendance 62,042 at the Allianz Arena in Munich Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)

05-July	17:00	NETHERLANDS	1-2	ENGLAND
ITV		Simons 7		Kane 18pen, Watkins 90

Netherlands Verbruggen; Dumfries (Zirkzee 90+3), De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Reijnders; Malen (Weghorst 46), Simons (Brobbey 90+3), Gakpo; Depay (Veerman 35) Booked Dumfries, Van Dijk, Simons
England Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi; Saka (Konsa 90+3), Mainoo (Gallagher 90+3), Rice, Trippier (Shaw 46); Foden (Palmer 80), Bellingham; Kane (Watkins 81) Booked Bellingham, Saka
Attendance 60,926 at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund Referee Felix Zwayer (Germany)

■ GOALSCORERS 117 goals in 51 matches (2.29 goals per game)
3 Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Dani Olmo (Spain), Harry Kane (England)
2 Niclas Fullkrug (Germany), Razvan Marin (Romania), Kai Havertz (Germany), Jude Bellingham (England), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Donyell Malen (Netherlands), Merih Demiral (Turkey), Florian Wirtz (Germany), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Nico Williams (Spain)
1 Emre Can (Germany), Kwadwo Duah (Switzerland), Michel Aebischer (Switzerland), Barnabas Varga (Hungary), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Nedim Bajrami (Albania), Alessandro Bastani (Italy), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Adam Buksa (Poland), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Erik Janza (Slovenia), Nicolae Stanciu (Romania), Denis Dragus (Romania), Mert Muldur (Turkey), Arda Guler (Turkey), Kerem Akturkoglu (Turkey), Lukas Provod (Czech Republic), Francisco Conceicao (Portugal), Qazim Laci (Albania), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Klaus Gjasula (Albania), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Scott McTominay (Scotland), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Zan Karnicnik (Slovenia), Luka Jovic (Serbia), Morten Hjulmand (Denmark), Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Gernot Trauner (Austria), Krzysztof Piatek (Poland), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Dan Ndoye (Switzerland), Kevin Csoboth (Hungary), Ferran Torres (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia), Mattia Zaccagni (Italy), Kylian Mbappe (France), Romano Schmid (Austria), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Marcel Sabitzer (Austria), Ondrej Duda (Slovakia), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic), Cenk Tosun (Turkey), Remo Freuler (Switzerland), Ruben Vargas (Switzerland), Rodri (Spain), Michael Gregoritsch (Austria), Mikel Merino (Spain), Bukayo Saka (England), Samet Akaydin (Turkey), Stefan De Vrij (Netherlands), Kolo Muani (France), Lamine Yamal (Spain), Xavi Simons (Netherlands), Ollie Watkins (England), Cole Palmer (England), Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain)
10 own goals Antonio Rudiger (Germany) for Scotland, Maximilian Wober (Austria) for France, Robin Hranac (Czech Republic) for Portugal, Klaus Gjasula (Albania) for Croatia, Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) for Spain, Samet Akaydin (Turkey) for Portugal, Donyell Malen (Netherlands) for Austria, Robin Le Normand (Spain) for Georgia, Jan Vertonghen (Belgium) for France, Mert Muldur (Turkey) for Netherlands

■ RED CARDS
Ryan Porteous (Scotland) v Germany
Antonin Barak (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Tomas Chory (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Dani Carvajal (Spain) v Germany
Bertug Yildirim (Turkey) v Netherlands

Southgate's comeback kings get a shot at redemption

OLLIE WATKINS scored the biggest goal of his career in the dying seconds of the semi final against Netherlands to give England the chance to make amends for their painful home defeat in the Euro 2020+1 Final three years ago.

The Three Lions produced a much-improved performance against the Dutch and staged yet another comeback to make it all the way to the showpiece event for a second successive European Championship.

Once again then, Gareth Southgate stands potentially just 90 minutes away from becoming only the second boss of the England men's senior team to win a trophy after Sir Alf Ramsey's home World Cup triumph in 1966.

Yet, for much of Euro 2024, it has not looked like getting anywhere near to coming home.

England were unbeaten and topped Group C but that said as much about the failings of their opponents Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia than anything else.

Indeed, right up until the last kick of the third group game, a Danish goal against Serbia would have sent England to Dortmund for a meeting with Germany in the Last 16 - but it never came.

Nevertheless, Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen seemed tricky enough and the Slovakians took a deserved lead after 25 minutes when Ivan Schranz took advantage of a wide-open defence to score his third goal of the tournament.

Southgate had been criticised during the opening matches for being slow to make attack-minded substitutions - although the Three Lions at least were never behind at any stage of any of the group games.

Now, England were chasing - and yet, infuriatingly, Southgate continued to stand idly on the sidelines deeper and deeper into the second half.

It took until 66 minutes for Cole Palmer to make it off the bench - while Eberechi Eze had to wait until the 84th minute to be introduced.

That left Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon kicking his heels - and, even now, the 23-year-old has had just a handful minutes of action across the whole competition.

Still, nothing changed - and, as the game moved into stoppage time, an inglorious conclusion to the eight-year Southgate era awaited.

But, if you cannot be good, be lucky - and, after a Kyle Walker throw-in was nodded on by Marc Guehi, the ball fell behind where Jude Bellingham was positioned.

No matter - the Real Madrid man produced a truly spectacular overhead kick to score a brilliant equaliser; England were level and the whole complexion of the tie had changed in the blink of an eye.

With the wind in their sails, the Three Lions went straight on the attack at the start of extra time.

This time, a Palmer free-kick on the right was only half-cleared to Eze whose ball was headed on by another late substitute Ivan Toney to Harry Kane unmarked in the six-yard box.

Now with the lead, England bemusingly reverted to a defensive approach despite the increased attacking talent which they had on the pitch.

That almost proved costly and the relief at the full time whistle was palpable as the team marched on to a quarter finals against Switzerland.

This was a handy Swiss team who had easily accounted for holders Italy in their own Last 16 tie - but, in classic knockout tournament style, the encounter against England resembled a chess match.

Again, the Three Lions had plenty of the ball without any cutting edge - and it took until midway through the second half for either of the teams to take control.

Frustratingly, that team was Switzerland - and, from a ball across by Dan Ndoye via a mis-step by John Stones, Breet Embolo was left with a simple tap-in to give a lead to the Swiss with just 15 minutes remaining.

Reactive rather than proactive as ever, Southgate predictably only rang the changes while trailing - although this time the substitutes had little to do with the rapid-fire equaliser.

Instead, it was another piece of individual inspiration as Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka struck a peach of a shot in-off the post cutting in the right on the edge of the box.

Remarkably, it was England's first shot on target of the match and it meant Southgate's men had scored with each of their previous three efforts on goal across two matches. It was a frankly unsustainable approach.

After the excitement of two goals in five minutes, both teams settled the match down in the remainder of normal time and throughout extra time to the extent that penalties felt inevitable.

At least, one thing that can be said under Southgate is that England's record at penalties has improved - even if the big failure in the Euro 2020+1 Final still sticks in the throat.

In Palmer, Bellingham, Saka, Toney, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, England fielded probably their most promising line-up of takers since Alan Shearer, David Platt, Stuart Pearce, Paul Gascoigne and Teddy Sheringham stepped up at Euro 1996. 

That certainly looked the case as the current vintage all kept their cool while Jordan Pickford saved Manuel Akanji's weak opening effort for Switzerland - and so England progressed again with a perfect set of spot-kicks.

Fast improvement was needed, though, against a Netherlands side which had scored nine goals across the tournament in making it through to the last four.

Just seven minutes into the semi final, that became 10 as Xavi Simons unleashed a wonderful shot from just outside the box and England fell behind for a third successive match.

Perhaps it was because the Dutch had scored so soon - but, whatever the reason and without any changes being required from Southgate, England responded with their most convincing half of the the tournament.

On 11 minutes, Saka made a good run towards the heart of the Oranje defence and, after his blocked shot fell to Kane, the Bayern Munich blazed over.

However, the video assistant officials deemed Kane to have been impeded on the shot by Denzel Dumfries's trailing leg - and on-field referee awarded a penalty which Kane happily despatched into the bottom corner.

For once, England did not simply stop and admire their good work - and, through the previously completely anonymous Phil Foden, threatened a second goal.

First, Foden had his shot from a narrow angle cleared off the line by Dumfries then the Manchester City man smacked a thumping shot off the face of the post from 25 yards.

Nevertheless, the Dutch themselves remained a threat - and, between Foden's efforts, the all-action Dumfries clipped the bar with his header from a corner.

The pace of the tie slowed somewhat in the second half - but still there were chances as Pickford saved well from Virgil Van Dijk before Saka had a goal chalked off for a needless offside by Walker who had delivered the pull-back.

As the match headed into stoppage time, yet another bout of extra time looked to be on the cards - but England again played right to the very end as Southgate's subs made another critical intervention.

Palmer, operating on the right, played a useful ball into Aston Villa striker Watkins on the half turn.

Showing strength to hold off his marker Stefan de Vrij and simultaneously great dexterity to retain control of the ball on the turn, Watkins was able to unleash a fierce shot across the goal - and into the bottom corner of the net.

England were ahead - and, with hardly any time for the Dutch to launch a response of their own, the Three Lions are in the Final again. 

Now, Spain stand in the way - and, having scored the most goals in Euro 2024 with 13 in six wins out of six, they have been undoubtedly the best team in the competition to watch.

Indeed, if titles were decided on artistic merit, the Spanish would be walking away with the trophy already with Lamine Yamal at the forefront.

In the semi final against France, Barcelona teenager Yamal added another record to his ever-growing list of accomplishments by becoming the youngest scorer in European Championship history at the age of 16 years and 362 days.

Not only that - Yamal's equaliser was an absolute beauty, a curling shot in-off the post from 25 yards as French goalkeeper Mike Maignan conceded from a non-penalty goal for the first time in the tournament.

Four minutes later, Maignan was picking the ball out of his net again as Dani Olmo took down a loose ball and made a yard of space before a low strike on the half-volley.

It was Olmo's third goal of the tournament - all three of them coming in separate knockout stage games - as

Spain had responded brilliantly to an early French blow. For, after just nine minutes of play, Les Bleus scored their first goal from open play at Euro 2024 through Kolo Muani who headed in Kylian Mbappe's pinpoint cross.

Despite that, though, the Spanish were much the better side for most of the first hour of play, deservedly got level then ahead, and really should have extended their lead before the inevitable late French push.

But, beyond a couple of mis-timed headers by Aurelien Tchouameni and Dayot Upamecano, and a wayward shot by Theo Hernandez from the edge of the box, Spain were able to keep Les Bleus at arm's length.

Mbappe, playing without a face mask for the first time since breaking his nose at the start of the tournament, only once got down his favoured inside-left channel - but he finished his run by blazing high over the bar.

It was an effort which summed up the tournament for Mbappe and France as a whole, as Spain deservedly sealed a fifth appearance in a European Championship Final with a fair degree of comfort.

Certainly, La Roja have enjoyed a really rich vein of form throughout, from their 3-0 beating of Croatia in their opening match via further group stage victories against Italy and Albania.

In the Last 16, the Spanish ended Georgia's journey with a 4-1 win - but, while that was a favourable draw against the lowest ranked team at the tournament, Luis de la Fuente's outfit next had to take on hosts Germany in the quarter finals.

Following a cautious first half from both teams, Spain lit the touchpaper early in the second half after Olmo stroked Yamal's perfectly-timed pass across the box into the bottom corner.

Germany responded well, forcing Unai Simon into a good save from Robert Andrich while Niclas Fullkrug slid the ball against the face of the post and Kai Havertz chipped just over.

Eventually, in the 89th minute, the pressure told, as a good header down by Joshua Kimmich from a deep cross by Maximilian Mittlestadt found Florian Wirtz to supply the finish.

The action did not stop there and, in an entertaining extra time period, Mikel Oyarzabal and Wirtz sent efforts agonisingly wide as both teams went for it ahead of one final Spanish attack.

Crossing from the left, Olmo found former on-loan Newcastle midfielder Mikel Merino - and, having drifted off his marker, the Real Sociedad player made no mistake with his planted header from eight yards.

Even then, the Germans had one final chance to force penalties as Fullkrug placed his header inches wide of the post - and defeat for the Mannschaft still means no host nation has won a Euros since France triumphed back in 1984.

Now, despite an unblemished record in the group stage, Spain are not without their vulnerabilities at the back.

La Roja will welcome back Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand from suspension into the starting line-up for the Final - but the fact that both were suspended in the first place suggests this Spanish team can be stretched.

Germany, in the quarter final, and France, in the semi final, got more joy in periods when they took the game to Spain, rather than sitting back and attempting to play solely on the break.

After all, while Southgate favours cautious tactics, this Spain team is simply to good on the ball and playing too well to be allowed to dictate the pace of the match.

Instead, to stand any chance of not having to chase yet another game, the Three Lions must show the same intensity as they displayed in the semi final against Netherlands.

Ultimately, at least it can be said that England have given themselves a chance of redemption - and, at this stage, that is all you can ask. 

🟥 EURO 2024 KNOCKOUT STAGE 🟥

■ LAST 16

29-June	17:00	SWITZERLAND	2-0	ITALY	Berlin
BBC		Freuler 37, Vargas 46
29-June	20:00	GERMANY	2-0	DENMARK	Dortmund
ITV		Havertz 53pen, Musiala 68
30-June	17:00	ENGLAND	2-1	SLOVAKIA	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Bellingham 90+5, Kane 91	aet	Schranz 25
30-June	20:00	SPAIN	4-1	GEORGIA	Cologne
ITV		Rodri 39, Fabian Ruiz 51 Williams 75, Olmo 83		Le Normand 18og
01-July	17:00	FRANCE	1-0	BELGIUM	Dusseldorf
ITV		Vertonghen 85og
01-July	20:00	PORTUGAL	0-0	SLOVENIA	Frankfurt
BBC		Portugal won 3-0 on penalties	aet
02-July	17:00	ROMANIA	0-3	NETHERLANDS	Munich
BBC				Gakpo 20, Malen 83, 90+3
02-July	20:00	AUSTRIA	1-2	TURKEY	Leipzig
ITV		Gregoritsch 66		Demiral 1, 59

■ QUARTER FINALS

05-July	17:00	SPAIN	2-1	GERMANY	Stuttgart
ITV		Olmo 51, Merino 119	aet	Wirtz 89
05-July	20:00	PORTUGAL	0-0	FRANCE	Hamburg
BBC			aet	France won 5-3 on penalties
06-July	17:00	ENGLAND	1-1	SWITZERLAND	Dusseldorf
BBC		Saka 80 England won 5-3 on penalties	aet	Embolo 75
06-July	20:00	NETHERLANDS	2-1	TURKEY	Berlin
ITV		De Vrij 70, Muldur 76og		Akaydin 35

■ SEMI FINALS

09-July	20:00	SPAIN	2-1	FRANCE
BBC		Yamal 21, Olmo 25		Kolo Muani 9

Spain Unai Simon; Jesus Navas (Vivian 58), Nacho, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Yamal (Torres 90+3), Olmo (Merino 76), Williams (Zubimendi 90+4); Morata (Oyarzabal 76) Booked Jesus Navas, Yamal
France Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez T; Kante (Griezmann 62), Tchoumeni, Rabiot (Camavinga 62); Dembele (Giroud 79), Koli Muani (Barcola 63), Mbappe Booked Tchoumeni
Attendance 62,042 at the Allianz Arena in Munich Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)

05-July	17:00	NETHERLANDS	1-2	ENGLAND
ITV		Simons 7		Kane 18pen, Watkins 90

Netherlands Verbruggen; Dumfries (Zirkzee 90+3), De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Reijnders; Malen (Weghorst 46), Simons (Brobbey 90+3), Gakpo; Depay (Veerman 35) Booked Dumfries, Van Dijk, Simons
England Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi; Saka (Konsa 90+3), Mainoo (Gallagher 90+3), Rice, Trippier (Shaw 46); Foden (Palmer 80), Bellingham; Kane (Watkins 81) Booked Bellingham, Saka
Attendance 60,926 at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund Referee Felix Zwayer (Germany)

■ GOALSCORERS 114 goals in 50 matches (2.28 goals per game)
3 Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Dani Olmo (Spain), Harry Kane (England)
2 Niclas Fullkrug (Germany), Razvan Marin (Romania), Kai Havertz (Germany), Jude Bellingham (England), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Donyell Malen (Netherlands), Merih Demiral (Turkey), Florian Wirtz (Germany), Breel Embolo (Switzerland)
1 Emre Can (Germany), Kwadwo Duah (Switzerland), Michel Aebischer (Switzerland), Barnabas Varga (Hungary), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Nedim Bajrami (Albania), Alessandro Bastani (Italy), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Adam Buksa (Poland), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Erik Janza (Slovenia), Nicolae Stanciu (Romania), Denis Dragus (Romania), Mert Muldur (Turkey), Arda Guler (Turkey), Kerem Akturkoglu (Turkey), Lukas Provod (Czech Republic), Francisco Conceicao (Portugal), Qazim Laci (Albania), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Klaus Gjasula (Albania), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Scott McTominay (Scotland), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Zan Karnicnik (Slovenia), Luka Jovic (Serbia), Morten Hjulmand (Denmark), Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Gernot Trauner (Austria), Krzysztof Piatek (Poland), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Dan Ndoye (Switzerland), Kevin Csoboth (Hungary), Ferran Torres (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia), Mattia Zaccagni (Italy), Kylian Mbappe (France), Romano Schmid (Austria), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Marcel Sabitzer (Austria), Ondrej Duda (Slovakia), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic), Cenk Tosun (Turkey), Remo Freuler (Switzerland), Ruben Vargas (Switzerland), Rodri (Spain), Nico Williams (Spain), Michael Gregoritsch (Austria), Mikel Merino (Spain), Bukayo Saka (England), Samet Akaydin (Turkey), Stefan De Vrij (Netherlands), Kolo Muani (France), Lamine Yamal (Spain), Xavi Simons (Netherlands), Ollie Watkins (England) 
10 own goals Antonio Rudiger (Germany) for Scotland, Maximilian Wober (Austria) for France, Robin Hranac (Czech Republic) for Portugal, Klaus Gjasula (Albania) for Croatia, Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) for Spain, Samet Akaydin (Turkey) for Portugal, Donyell Malen (Netherlands) for Austria, Robin Le Normand (Spain) for Georgia, Jan Vertonghen (Belgium) for France, Mert Muldur (Turkey) for Netherlands

■ RED CARDS
Ryan Porteous (Scotland) v Germany
Antonin Barak (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Tomas Chory (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Dani Carvajal (Spain) v Germany
Bertug Yildirim (Turkey) v Netherlands