Football
Euro 2024: England players leave training camp and set off to Berlin for Spain final – live
Key events
Ed Aarons
“If we are successful at under-16 and under-17, the players will carry the mindset through to the senior team that England is a place we go to and win. Like the Spanish are experiencing, like the Germans do,” Southgate told the Guardian’s David Conn a couple of months after his appointment. “Rather than insisting to clubs, saying we want mandatory release of players, we’d like players to want to come and play in England squads.”
Gareth Southgate has come a long way from his role as the FA’s Head of Elite Development in 2011. Southgate’s interest and investment in England’s youth setup has paid dividends at this tournament. Read Ed Aarons’ article about it here:
Away from football and the Euros, Barbora Krejcikova is this year’s Wimbledon champion after beating Jasmine Paolini in the women’s singles final.
Here’s one from Chris:
“I have an interesting one where I will watch from. I have a flight from Pearson Airport in Toronto at 6:25 pm Toronto time, game starts at 3:00 pm here so I’ll try to watch the first half before going to the airport, then hopefully get the second half at the airport before I fly. hopefully it’ll make it a good flight back to Heathrow.”
We’ve got another Spain v England viewing location. This time it’s from Krishna:
”I do not know how this goes as far as exciting locations go. We have a small Indian community here in Czestochowa, a religious small town in the south of Poland. Our daughter is here on her summer vacation from Costa Rica and we all plan to assemble at my home tomorrow night for an all Indian crowd. Who wears red and who wears white is still not known. But it is going to be lively and lovely. A total of 15 – enough to convert our home into a local pub.”
Transportation between the 10 cities hosting matches was also a far cry from the impressive efficiency of 2006, with delays hitting fans and even teams, including the Dutch squad who had to scrap plans for a train journey ahead of their semi-final against England and eventually arrived four hours later than planned by plane.
Fans took to social media to complain about these disruptions and the transport minister said the national rail operator’s performance had not met Germany’s standards during the event.
The Euros have put Germany’s vaunted efficiency under international scrutiny as the country struggles to modernise its ageing rail infrastructure and boost punctuality.
(Reuters)
What have you thought of the tournament so far? Email me your thoughts.
According to a report from Reuters:
German organisers of the Euro 2024 tournament will breathe a sigh of relief after Sunday’s final between Spain and England, having delivered an event without major issues but having failed to replicate the success of the 2006 World Cup on home soil.
The Euros have been Germany’s biggest international sports event since the 2006 World Cup which at the time triggered a massive wave of home enthusiasm, filled fan zones nationwide and has since become known as “the summer fairy tale”.
While this year’s Euros went off without major hitches on both the operational and security level, it has come nowhere close to matching the success of the World Cup 18 years ago.
The England squad have finished training and are on their way to Berlin for the final. The tension is building…
How far? Here’s where Ephraim will be watching the game from:
I will be watching the match at the Senior staff Club bar at the Lagos University teaching Hospital in Lagos Nigeria, hoping football comes home on Sunday. England win will the best gift of this century. I’m looking forward to it
Drew Savage is tuning in from the US to watch the final at midday:
“Hi, Love your news feed listing Brits all around the world who will be watching the game and would like to add my name to the list! I live in sunny San Diego, California! Kick off time for us is a relatively civilized 12 noon Pacific time and I’ll be watching with a friend who is also British, via one of the local sports channels available here. We will be at home, however, there is an English style pub in the downtown area called Shakespeares (lol) where there will be a sizeable gathering of Brit expats also cheering the team on! Come on England!”
Time to check back in with you all and your Euros plans. Here’s where Gregg Williams will be watching the game from:
“It’s not as far away as New Zealand, but probably more remote.
I’m working on a mining project in the Atacama desert in Chile. The internet is terrible and ominously cut out for 4 hours yesterday afternoon. I’m more worried about that than the result, to be honest. I will lock myself away in a site office tomorrow afternoon and pretend I’m on a Zoom call.
Keep up the good work with the live blog; it makes me feel like I’m not so far away.”
Paul MacInnes
Everybody needs to know their role, and to accept it. “There’s a holy trinity when you’re talking about roles and that is: clarity, acceptance and support,” Collins says. “Let’s say Ollie Watkins. Ollie must know what his role is, and be completely happy to accept and fulfil that role. Meanwhile everybody else knows that about Ollie and are going to support Ollie in that role.
Boris Starling made a great point earlier about the belief Gareth Southgate has instilled in the England squad. Our very own reporter, Paul MacInnes, offers more analysis on Gareth Southgate’s leadership style in his article.
Thank you, Emillia. I’m back and ready to continue with the EURO 2024 final updates. Make sure to let me know where you’re watching the game from via email.
That’s all from me today! I’ll pass you back over to Xaymaca for the remainder of the afternoon.
Jonathan Denness will be watching tomorrow’s match from Belgium. He says: “I will be watching at home in Brussels with my Spanish wife. I love my in-laws a lot but I fear the first week in August when we will all be together. Either the 17 of them or I will be insoportable as we say in their language. I really hope it’s me.”
How could England break down Spain tomorrow? Click here for an in-depth look at Luis de la Fuente’s side:
Mainoo determined to ‘finish the job’
England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo admits he will not be happy to look back on his “crazy” first tournament experience “until the job is finished”. A year and a day ago Mainoo was playing in United’s pre-season friendly against Leeds in Oslo but 12 months on he will do battle with Spain in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin.
“We’ve come so far but this is the biggest hurdle yet,” he told Lions’ Den. “It’s been good to play my part when called upon. To represent my country and to be in the final of the Euros is crazy. I can’t look back on it too fondly until the job is finished and we have lifted the trophy.”
Also happening today…
Follow the action from the Wimbledon women’s singles final here:
We have a score prediction from Boris Starling – he says: “I’ve put a tenner on England to win on penalties after the final finishes 1-1. There would be quite a bit of numerical symmetry in that (the same result as the last Euros final but reversed; England’s knockout games this time reading 2-1, 1-1, 2-1, 1-1), but more than that I think it would be a cosmic vindication of Project Gareth, to win a tournament on penalties and thereby finally banish the England hoodoo and his own 1996 part in it.
“The opprobrium he still gets in so many quarters is to my mind totally baffling. Yes, England haven’t been great to watch in large parts of this tournament, but their resilience and utter belief in themselves very much comes from the values he’s been instrumental in instilling in the squad. People rightly praise his substitutions on Wednesday, but it goes much deeper than just bringing on the right players at the right time. Ollie Watkins had played 20 minutes in the tournament before the semi-final. Ivan Toney had come on ahead of him in both previous knockout matches, making Watkins effectively back-up to the back-up.
“But an entire squad culture – not just the odd pep talk from the manager, but something permeating through every training session, every meeting and every minute of downtime – had made Watkins not just believe he would get his chance but that he would make it count when he did. That run in behind, that touch and that finish weren’t simply a very good player doing what he does very well: they were all the hallmarks of someone who BELIEVES in himself, in his team-mates and in his manager. And that in turn has to come first and foremost from the top back down to the players.”
Ashley Green will be cheering on England… in Spain! “On holiday with family in the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona. The Dream Final is actually happening and we’ll be watching in an English pub or on one of many screens being set up all over the city centre. Really hoping England can get the win, but nervously awaiting a Catalonian earthquake when local boy Yamal bags another scorcher! Come on England!”
Hannah Al-Othman
The entire country will be on tenterhooks on Sunday to see if the Three Lions can fight their way to victory in the men’s Euros final. But one small area south of Manchester will be rooting for its very own trio, some of England’s brightest young stars: Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Kobbie Mainoo, who all grew up here within a few miles of each other.
We’ve had New Zealand, now we’ve got Australia! Kathryn will be watching all the way from Adelaide… at 4am!
She says: “Set my alarm for Monday morning at 4.00am- watching from a chilly couch in Adelaide trying not to wake my Australian husband, daughter or dogs who are not in the least bit interested in our version of football!”
Spain defender Aymeric Laporte believes England have not been up to standard at Euro 2024 so far. In a recent interview with Sid Lowe, he said: “I’ve been watching England because I have ex-teammates of mine there. We exchange messages once in a while. What surprises me is how good they are individually and how we’ve seen less of that here. Against Slovakia, they score in the 94th minute. All the players they have, even the subs, and they weren’t able to show football of a great level. They didn’t overrun Slovakia, didn’t create as much football as I perceive them to be individually.
Why? “I don’t know. I feel like either they have their day or they don’t. When you see [Phil] Foden, what he does always at his club and in the national team, when you see [Bukayo] Saka, [Harry] Kane … these are players who are very hard to defend.”
Neil Clough is writing in from a sleeper bus in Vietnam! He says: “Currently on a sleeper bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An, Vietnam. Will be watching the game at 2am Monday morning on my laptop in my Airbnb or maybe in a Hoi An bar if I can find one. They are football mad in Vietnam and there’s plenty of Brits here so good chance I’ll find somewhere. If not it will be ITV and the great Ian Wright.”
2am! That’s real dedication!
Greg Williams will be watching the match all the way from Chile! He says: “It’s not as far away as New Zealand, but probably more remote.
“I’m working on a mining project in the Atacama desert in Chile. The internet is terrible and ominously cut out for 4 hours yesterday afternoon. I’m more worried about that than the result, to be honest. I will lock myself away in a site office tomorrow afternoon and pretend I’m on a Zoom call. Keep up the good work with the live blog; it makes me feel like I’m not so far away.”
No injury concerns for England – all 26 players train
England stars have been busy in training this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow’s final. All 26 players were involved, with no injury concerns expected before kick-off.
Feel free to email me with any Euro 2024 final plans, predictions or any funny stories you may have from the tournament so far – I want to hear from you!
Good afternoon! Lunch has been consumed and I’m back with you again for the next few hours. Keep the ticket price stories coming and let me know where you’ll be watching tomorrow’s match from!
That’s all from me for now. I’m handing over to Emillia Hakwins who will keep you updated for the next couple of hours.
We’ve got a ticket price story from David Williams:
“I spent 120,000 yen (about 700 GBP at the time) for England vs Brazil in 2002 in Japan, that was after 70,000 for England vs Denmark a week earlier. My wife reminds me of this ‘once in a lifetime investment’ at every possible opportunity. I’ll be watching the final at 4am in Tokyo. Hoping for a win in 90 mins I have to go to work.”
England boss Southgate was asked about the fitness of Trippier and Kane on Friday, saying: “No scans, no. As far as we know they’re OK, but we haven’t done a lot out on the pitch, so we’ll find more out (Saturday). Obviously, we’re not expecting anybody to rule themselves out for the final.”
There’s some team news from the England camp courtesy of the Press Association:
“England’s full squad trained ahead of their departure to Berlin for the Euro 2024 final against Spain … Kieran Trippier went off at half-time of the semi-final with a knock and captain Harry Kane was in discomfort after winning the penalty from which he equalised. But both were in action on Saturday lunchtime as the full 26-man squad trained at their Blankenhain base for the final time before making the journey to Berlin.”
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