Spain‘s statistics in winning Euro 2024 are so historic and so startling that it’s easy to be overwhelmed and distracted by them. But in the end, Sunday’s victory over England in the final came down to what they do best and what has been an eternal question about a footballer: “how’s your first touch?”
La Roja are the only team to win six or more matches at a Euro, they have the oldest player to win one (Jesús Navas), the youngest ever to play, assist or score at one (Lamine Yamal), the national team and Spain’s clubs have won every major European final they’ve been in since 2001, they top-scored here, they beat every other European World Cup winner (England, Germany, France, Italy), no nation has ever won more Euros than Spain, they are Euro and Nations League holders at men’s and women’s level. Rodri has lost once in 81 club and country matches.
There are more stats, but that’s already a tsunami of them, and in any event, I want to draw your attention back to the things which, perpetually, make all this happen.
Look at Spain’s opening goal in Berlin. It was built from the back: England were either…
