For 13 exquisite minutes, Three Lions fans dared to dream that England could win the Euros but now the long trudge back to Blighty begins, writes ROBERT HARDMAN
Surely after almost six decades, it had to be time for a new script?
For an exquisite 13 minutes last night, it seemed that England’s last-minute merchants might just pull off another great escape and lift their first trophy since that 1966 World Cup.
But, with extra time just four minutes away, Spain fired in the goal which dictated there would be no happy ending.
Spain 2 – England 1. No Bellingham bicycle kick riding to the rescue this time.
And so the curtain falls on another epoch in the England story. The Gareth Southgate era is now, almost certainly, at an end. ‘I don’t believe in fairytales but I do believe in dreams,’ he had told us before last night. Instead, we have to endure the stuff of all-too-familiar nightmares as England now head home empty-handed.
The German capital had been completely overrun by England fans of every age, all wanting to be able to say that they had at least breathed the air of victory, even if many would end up watching the game in a vast mile-long ‘fanzone’ by the Brandenburg Gate.
For an exquisite 13 minutes last night, it seemed that England’s last-minute merchants might just pull off another great escape, but there was no happy ending, writes ROBERT HARDMAN
For 13 minutes we dared to dream, but the curtain has now fallen on another epoch in England's story
Gareth Southgate comforts Jude Bellingham on the pitch after another disappointing result for England in a major final
It was not so much England unravelling as Spain electrified as an 86th-minute run by Mikel Oyarzabal shattered everything
Jeremy Bowen's girlfriend Dani Dryer watches on as England struggled to contain Spain in the final
England fans in a pub in Madrid watch on as the Lions took on Spain in the final
So great were the numbers last night that police had to close the entrance and issue appeals for calm. ‘The German capital has now fallen into English hands,’ proclaimed the headline in Tageszeitung.
Inside Berlin’s Olympiastadion, the bulk of the 74,500 seats seemed to have been acquired by England fans, dwarfing their official ration of 10,295. England flags were draped throughout. Even in the depths of the Spanish enclave, I counted a ‘Sheffield United’, a ‘Mansfield Town’ and a brace of ‘Oldham Athletic’.
Some had paid £5,000 via touts or black market websites for the chance to witness history here. This imposing and austere stadium has seen a great deal of that.
Last night’s match is certainly not going to eclipse the memory of the great black American, Jesse Owens, making a mockery of the Nazis with his four golds at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Five years before that, Spain’s footballers suffered what remains their record defeat to this day – a 7-1 thrashing by England. Spanish ghosts can, at least, sleep more soundly after last night.
It didn’t start badly at all. An unremarkable, evenly-matched first half saw little of the dreaded Spanish pirouetting brilliance which the pundits had predicted. With both a Williams and a Rodri forcing the pace for Spain, the uninitiated might have wondered if England were playing Wales. The best of it all was a respectable shot into the goalkeeper’s arms from Phil Foden. England fans were vociferously the more upbeat as the teams trooped off.
All change in the second half. The game ignited immediately with a thundering goal from Spain’s unmarked Nico Williams on the left. Spain almost had another two minutes later.
It was not so much England unravelling as Spain electrified. Southgate had to try something similarly transformative. Forlorn captain Harry Kane made way for Ollie Watkins on 60 minutes. It was the arrival of Cole Palmer ten minutes later which seemed to be a game-changer.
England defender Kyle Walker is consoled by Gareth Southgate following defeat to Spain
Captain Harry Kane shakes hands with the Prince of Wales as he goes up to collect his runners-up medal
A minute later he had hit the back of the net right in front of the main England cohort. Delirium. And then a change of tempo as Spain appeared to subside. It was not enough.
An 86th-minute run by Mikel Oyarzabal shattered everything. England fought to the last. They have nothing of which to be ashamed. They may, however, not want to head for the Costas to get over this one.
Spanish pride had been in the ascendant from the start. Long before King Felipe took his seat in Berlin to support La Roja (‘The Red One’), Carlos Alcaraz had triumphed over Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.
The British Royal Family were out in force at both events but it was a smiling Princess of Wales who had much the happier day of it in London SW19, greeted with a euphoric, emotional standing ovation as she appeared on Centre Court with Princess Charlotte.
Over in Germany, it fell to a solemn Prince of Wales, accompanied by Prince George, to be the face of dignity and consolation in defeat. A few seats away sat the Prime Minister. At the end of what has been the month of his life, here was a reminder for Sir Keir Starmer of what a gut-wrenching and very public defeat feels like.
The millstone of 1966 now weighs even heavier around the neck of English football this morning. Harold Wilson was in Number Ten back then, Chris Farlowe was at Number One with Out of Time (me neither) and the King was studying for his A-Levels. Ahead of the game, he had urged England ‘to secure victory before the need for any last minute wonder-goals or another penalties drama’. Well, we were spared the last bit.
Prince William shakes hands with England No 10 Jude Bellingham
Supporters in Europe react as they watch the final unfold at Boxpark Croydon, south London
Regardless of the result, it is to be hoped that the King will be resting his sword on Gareth Southgate’s shoulders soon enough. He has rejuvenated England as a force in world football, reached consecutive finals of this tournament with a World Cup semi-final too. He surely warrants elevation alongside Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alex Ferguson, even if he has not quite managed to emulate World Cup-winning Sir Alf Ramsey.
If this really was his last game in charge, a lucrative career as a motivational speaker lies ahead. His calmness under fire and unquestioned authority over an exceptional pool of competing talents was exemplified by his eve-of-battle to the media in the bowels of this stadium.
‘I don’t have any fear. I’ve been through everything,’ said a man who is still able to joke about his own cataclysmic penalty-miss against Germany in this very same competition 28 years ago (‘it made me popular in Germany’).
Unlike so many of his counterparts, he neither bristles nor blusters. His earnest hope had been that his players should feel that same fearlessness. ‘If we’re not afraid to lose,’ he said, ‘it gives us a better chance of winning.’ Yet, it was not to be.
The long trudge back to Blighty now begins while the FA’s open-top bus remains in the garage. It will be days before some of these fans make it home. The logjam of supporters desperate to be in the German capital must now be replicated in reverse.
So many supporters had wanted to be here, with or without tickets, that Berlin airspace was unable to cope on Saturday. German media reported that two last-minute charters from Ethiopian Airlines, one from Manchester and another from London, ended up landing 120 miles away in Leipzig.
Many of them had spent sums which they would never have contemplated at the outset of this tournament. Yet they had been overcome by the madness which comes with tantalising proximity to witnessing genuine national sporting glory.
Immediately after the final whistle of the quarter-final, James Teasel, 47, from Essex had pledged to take his 12-year-old son, Miller, to the semis. So, Mr Teasel, who exports cars for a living, bought flights, a hotel and two tickets at £1,000 each. Back in their Dortmund hotel room after Wednesday’s semi-final, he was starting to pack when he had a footballing epiphany.
‘How could we come all this way and then go home? And I want my son to remember this week with his Dad,’ he explained to me. ‘Anyway, money comes and goes.’
Here in Berlin, it certainly goes. Having lost the original return flights home, he then forked out for another hotel plus two seats for the final at £4,000-a-head. ‘No regrets,’ the ardent Arsenal fan assured me.
Regardless of the result, it is hoped the King will be resting his sword on Southgate's shoulders in the near future
One of the youngest teams at this tournament (average age: 26) have shown a maturity beyond their years and most live to fight another day
There have been so many similar stories this week. I have been struck by the number of two if not three-generation groups here with plenty of female fans in the mix.
The days when the England fanbase was overwhelmingly young, single, loud and thirsty have moved on. There have been sporadic ugly scenes here, always late-night and beer-fuelled, but no major outbreaks of violence or serious disorder.
Non-fans may wonder how anyone could possibly spend so much on a football match but people will go to similar lengths to see Taylor Swift. There’s little difference in price. You just leave the latter feeling happy, not wreathed in gloom.
This has been another epic journey for English football. One of the youngest teams at this tournament (average age: 26) have shown a maturity beyond their years and most live to fight another day. And let us not forget that our gallant Lionesses, victorious at Wembley in 2022, remain the holders of the women’s Euro title.
Yet the fact remains that only those now eligible for a senior citizen’s travel pass are able to recall the last time an Englishman lifted an international trophy in this sport.
Football is not ‘coming home’ and we have now endured 58 years ‘of hurt’. We’ll have clocked up 60 by the next World Cup. Still, at least the lyrics of the next iteration of Three Lions On A Shirt will scan properly.
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