Don't scorn Gareth Southgate and his brave players... England lost to Spain with honour and pride and they are still a generation that does not give up, writes OLIVER HOLT

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When the final whistle went, his players fell to the turf in blank despair. Gareth Southgate put his hands on his hips for a moment to compose himself. Then he walked over to the dancing, bouncing group that had Spain coach Luis de la Fuente at its heart. 

Southgate found a way into the midst of this bundle of jumping joy that was not his, that will almost certainly never be his now with this England team, and found De la Fuente to shake his hand. The pair shared an embrace. Dignity is Southgate’s way.

If, as seems likely, this was his last match in charge of the country he has managed for eight years and more than 100 games, then the fates saved the cruelest cut of all for his farewell.

Yes, Spain were the better team. They have been the outstanding team throughout this tournament — the only outstanding team — and they deserved their win.

But England had looked as if they were about to summon yet another of the stirring escape acts that have become their trademark in this European Championship until substitute Mikel Oyarzabal stabbed home a late winner. 

Spain are crowned as European champions after beating England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final

Spain captain Alvaro Morata lifts the Henri Delaunay trophy after his side's triumph

England manager Gareth Southgate walks past the trophy after his side's final defeat by Spain

Kane and his England team-mates watch as Spain lift the trophy at the Olympiastadion

Spain's players and coaching staff rejoice in the centre circle after winning the Euro 2024 final

Mikel Oyarzabal falls to his knees as the final whistle confirms Spain as champions

Chin up, Jude! Bellingham sits on the pitch defeated as England come so close to Euro glory

An upset England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford looks on after the final whistle in Berlin

A distraught Bellingham walks off the pitch as jubilant Spain stars celebrate behind him

A gutted Kane misses out on another chance to win to the first team trophy of his career

It's heartbreak for Kane and Saka once again – but they lost with dignity and pride

Saka gets a big hug from England and Arsenal team-mate Aaron Ramsdale at full-time

A livid Bellingham kicks over a drinks cooler at the side of the pitch as frustrations boil over

Southgate was dignified to the very end – he and his players should be proud of themselves 

Some will pour scorn on Southgate and his brave players because they feel that England should be winning every tournament they take part in but the truth is that they played their part to the full in a thrilling second half and lost to a fine team.

Eviscerate them if you want in the midst of your disappointment but this is not a snowflake generation of England players. This is a granite generation. This is a generation that does not know how to give up.

England were the only team to reach a European Championship final having been behind in the last 16, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals and they fought back yet again in the Olympiastadion after Spain had taken the lead through Nico Williams soon after half-time.

Cole Palmer sparked frenzied scenes when he finished a brilliant team move to draw England level after 73 minutes but then, just when it seemed that 58 years of hurt might be coming to an end at last, Oyarzabal prodded in the winner four minutes from time.

It seems probable that this will have been Southgate’s final game after eight years as England boss. Win, and there was an outside chance the FA might have persuaded him to stay on for the World Cup in 2026 but that chance has almost certainly gone now.

However much Southgate has achieved in his time in charge there has been, for much of the past three years, a rump of England fans determined to pour scorn upon him and repeat the meaningless and brainless mantra that everything England have achieved has been despite Southgate, not because of him.

Those voices have begun to weary Southgate, particularly since the Qatar World Cup, and he knows that their moaning and howling and griping and whining will only get louder now England have fallen at the final hurdle again.

It is true that 58 years of hurt will now become 60 years but Southgate has built England into a force in world football again. This was their first final on foreign soil and the third time in four tournaments they have reached the semi-finals or better.

It may be that it is Southgate’s fate to be the man who prepares the way. He has led this team to the gates of the promised land but he has been unable to take them the final step. He has not been able to win. That task, with this talented, redoubtable team of players, will now likely fall to his successor.

Mikel Oyarzabal puts a dagger in the heart of England after scoring a late winner for Spain

The Spain winger got in front of Marc Guehi to divert Marc Cucurella's cross into the net

Oyarzabal manages to get to the ball before Jordan Pickford to re-take the lead for Spain

Oyarzabal celebrates scoring Spain's second goal in the 86th minute of the Euro 2024 final

The semi-automated offside ruling showed how Oyarzabal was just onside for his goal

Jubilant Spain stars rush to celebrate as dejected England collect their thoughts

Moments later, England nearly equalised for a second time but it was cleared off the line

He has done an outstanding job in building the foundations for England to perform. Unpalatable though it may seem, playing for England had become an inconvenience for superstar players weighed down by the increasing demands placed on them by their clubs. Southgate changed that.

He made it so that players wanted to join up with England again. He created an environment where they could enjoy it. 

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He encouraged players to tell their stories in the media so they could re-establish bonds with the public that had been broken by their celebrity and their otherness.

He made it so that England players weren’t frightened to wear the shirt any more. He turned around the culture of failure that had existed for a generation.

But he didn’t win. He didn’t end the years of hurt. So many jokes, so many sneers and now another oh-so-near.

Southgate made one personnel change to the team that started the semi-final victory over the Dutch. He brought in Luke Shaw for Kieran Trippier on the left and reverted to the back four that he had played in the group stages.

Shaw was tasked with keeping in check Lamine Yamal, the Spanish wunderkind who reached the ripe old age of 17 on Saturday, and he did it with great aplomb for the first 45 minutes.

Both teams were playing with purpose and confidence without creating clear-cut chances. Some had called again for skipper Harry Kane to be dropped and he had another quiet game. ‘Physically it’s been tough for him,’ Southgate said afterwards. ‘He came into the tournament short on games and has not quite reached the level we all would have hoped.’

Nico Williams wheels away in celebration after scoring the opener for Spain against England

The Spanish winger unleashes a wicked shot past Jordan Pickford into the bottom corner

Kyle Walker can only watch the shot nestle into the back of Pickford's goal as Spain lead

It took just 70 seconds of the second half for Spain to break the deadlock in the Euro 2024 final

Cole Palmer screams with joy after scoring England's equaliser against Spain in the Euro final

The 22-year-old hits a side-footed shot with precision from outside the box in the 73rd minute

Palmer guides his shot into the bottom corner of Unai Simon's net to level the scores

Cold Palmer! The England attacker performs his trademark celebration after scoring

Luke Shaw climbs on the top of Palmer's shoulders after England equalise against Spain

The half was meandering to a close when Bellingham stole the ball off his Real Madrid team-mate Dani Carvajal on the edge of the Spain box and played the ball across the area. Kane managed England’s first shot of the half but it was well blocked by Rodri, whose momentum took him into Aymeric Laporte as he fell.

Neither side had the upper hand. And for England, their performance provided encouragement. Their opening 45 minutes were a lot closer to the verve of their play against the Dutch than it was to some of the stolid fare they produced in the groups.

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It appeared Rodri had hyper-extended his knee when he blocked Kane’s shot and he did not come out for the second half. It was a huge blow for Spain because he had been, as usual, their outstanding player in the opening period.

But Spain dealt with the setback in the best way possible. A little over a minute into the second half, Carvajal freed Yamal at last with a beautiful flick, Yamal made a diagonal run across the area and played the ball into the path of Williams, who drilled it past Jordan Pickford.

It was the first chance of the game and Spain took it. They made another a few minutes later when Williams’ shot was intercepted by on the edge of the England six-yard box. His touch took him into space but he dragged his left-foot shot tamely wide.

England could easily have been two down. Having thwarted Spain’s attack so well in the first half, now they were reeling.

A perplexed Kane (left) is shown the yellow card by French referee Francois Letexier

Foden was presented with a chance to shoot at goal from a tight angle, but saw his shot saved

Luke Shaw manages to evade Dani Carvajal before making a darting run down the line

England captain Kane and Spain defender Aymeric Laporte battle for the ball in mid-air

Bellingham is fouled by Spain maestro Rodri, which earned England a free-kick

Rice (No 4) darts past Fabian Ruiz in the centre of midfield as he looks to get things going

Saka (No 7) controls the ball and looks to get away from the oncoming challenge from Yamal

De la Fuente’s side were rampant. Alvaro Morata dinked a shot over Pickford but Stones hacked it off the line. 

Williams hit a stinging drive just wide of the right-hand post. England needed to make a change fast and Southgate did not hesitate. Ollie Watkins, the hero of Dortmund, came on for Kane.

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Midway through the half, Pickford made a brilliant finger-tip save to push a shot from Yamal around the post and still England reeled. Southgate made another change. Palmer came on for Kobbie Mainoo. 

It worked almost immediately. Palmer played the ball out wide to Saka, Saka ran at his man and played the ball to Bellingham in the centre.

What Bellingham did next was brilliant. Simple but brilliant. Falling backwards, he touched the ball, perfectly weighted, into the path of Palmer. What Palmer did next was brilliant, too. He curled it deliberately, accurately, beautifully past Unai Simon from 20 yards.

The stadium erupted. Memories of all the other England comebacks in this tournament came flooding back. ‘England till I die,’ rolled around the stadium. England believed again.

Then they got a fright. Olmo played a short ball into Yamal’s feet in the box and suddenly he only had Pickford to beat. Yamal tried to curl it around him into the corner. He should have scored but Pickford anticipated the direction of the shot.

England star Bellingham reacts after a coming together during the first half

Spain were dealt a big blow at half-time which saw a distraught and injured Rodri replaced

Three Lions captain Kane was brought off in the second half for Ollie Watkins

WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith (centre right) was spotted in the stands

Foden's son Ronnie adorably holds up a sign of support during the final in Berlin

Then came the critical blow. Spain played the ball wide to Cucurella and when he slid his cross into the box, it was met by substitute Oyarzabal who turned it past Pickford from close range.

It felt like it was over but England would still not lie down. Rice powered in a thumping header from a corner that Simon beat away, Marc Guehi headed it back in but it was nodded off the line. It ballooned up to Rice who tried to find the top corner but his second header was just too high.

It was a remarkable sequence, a last flourish from a team that had refused to lose time and time again. This time, though, there was no way back.