England 1-0 Spain: Trafford’s deflected goal and penalty save the UEFA U-21 final decision | under the age of 21

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England ended their 39-year wait for a third UEFA European Under-21 Championship title in a tense final at Batumi Arena, Georgia.

important moments

44 ‘: England’s Colwell hits the post with a header. 45 + 4’: Palmer’s free kick hits Jones. 89 ‘: Double save from Spain goalkeeper Tebas 90 + 9’: Trafford moves away from Abel Ruiz’s penalty kick

Spain had their moment but England took the lead in extra time in the first half when Cole Palmer’s free kick was parried past Curtis Jones. Then, in extra time, Spain were awarded a penalty but James Trafford denied Abel Ruiz, making England make history by going through the entire final tournament without conceding a goal.

Watch England lift the trophy in a nutshell: a goal deflecting enough for England

England, who had welcomed Max Aarons back from suspension in the semi-final, had an early chance when tournament player Anthony Gordon Arnau Tebas forced a save and Palmer was unable to force the rebound. Spain, who fielded the same starting line-up throughout the knockout stage, struggled for the ball initially but found their feet and Alex Baena curled a shot.

Aitor Paredes headed in Sergio Gomez’s corner kick from the goal, as Rodri Sanchez approached from outside the penalty area. But, late in the first half, Palmer got Tebas working again, before a wing free-kick was deflected into the wood-run by Levi Colwell. It was another Palmer free kick in the first half of extra time that gave England the lead, a deflection off Jones that left Tebas in the wrong position.

Cole Palmer free kick deflected in the direction of Curtis Jones via Sportsfile

Spain pressed hard early in the second half but it wasn’t long after Gordon flicked the ball in for Morgan Gibbs-White to flick the ball wide. Although Jones then hacked, Tebas pulled back to make the save. Abel Ruiz crossed Sergio Gomez across the post and Spain began to push England back, but what looked like the last big chance went to Lee Carsley’s side, as Tebas superbly denied substitutes Harvey Elliott and Noni Madueki.

However, deep in extra time, Colwell fouled Abel Ruiz in the penalty area. The Spain captain stepped up, but Trafford bailed out to secure a perfect sixth clean sheet in the finals and the title for England.

As it happened: England 1-0 Spain. Player of the match: Curtis Jones (England)

“He was always on the ball at the right time, played excellently between the lines and showed himself to be a real team leader.”

Player of the Match: Highlights Curtis Jones, Ian Holliman, Batumi Arena

What a final! Quality, tension, drama and everything we could have asked of a decision maker. Neither side has ever compromised on its possession-based philosophy, which means there’s real intensity throughout. Both teams created fantastic chances with Spain’s Sergio Gomez, while the England players hit the ground running effectively as well, Palmer being particularly lively.

In the end, it was a slice of luck that separated two very great teams. Both could have been worthy winners, but only one could have come out on top, just as in the 1984 home-and-away match between these two teams it went England’s way.

reaction

James Trafford, England goalkeeper: “I am very happy for the team. I am very happy for my family, friends and the coaching staff. It was a tremendous team effort and we delivered.

This morning I told everyone I was going to save a pen, and when it was a penalty I knew I was going to save it. I told all my housemates I was going to save one! [The record of not conceding in the tournament] It means a lot to us because it would take a massive effort to break it. We are a very good team and we believe no one can score against us and we have shown that.”

Trafford: I knew I would save the penalty

Taylor Harewood-Bellis, England captain: “We’ve talked about it a lot, and we felt it was time to do it. There’s been a lot of pressure on us to do well because we’ve got such a good team. We’re like one big family, it’s like a club.” We will all celebrate together.

“He hits [Trafford] He should take a lot of the credit, but everyone played his part. We kept a clean sheet against Germany, they are a big team, and it’s not easy to do that. All the players pushed each other when they weren’t playing. This is something we are proud of. We dug in against Portugal, dug in here again, and having that in our treasury is massive.”

Anthony Gordon, England striker and player of the tournament: “I’m very happy. I feel I had a good tournament, but with the individual trophy it’s up to my teammates and the coaching staff. The team is really unselfish. Six or seven of us might have won it, and that shows how good we are.”

Tournament MVP: Anthony Gordon highlights

Santi Denia, Spain coach: “I feel very proud of everyone, not only the players but everyone who is part of this family. They all worked in an extraordinary way.

“The team kept growing and we tried until the last minute. We are strong and we will continue to grow with this way of playing.”

Key stats England won their third title, after 1982 and 1984 (also against Spain in the final), when the tournament was still decided by round-robin knockouts, and over-age players were allowed. Championship without conceding Trafford notched six more clean sheets than their previous best England won all six matches in their campaign, their first since the finals were expanded to 16 teams in 2021 Spain were in a record ninth final, two by two About Italy. This is the fourth consecutive UEFA European Under-21 Championship match to be decided by a single goal difference, and Gibbs White and Angel Gomez helped England beat Spain’s many of this squad in the 2017 U-17 World Cup final. Emil Smith Rowe was an unused substitute, and Abel Ruiz was only the seventh player to reach ten Under-21 finals since the group stage began in 2000. Branislav Ivanović has the record 13th finals top scorer, with three goals. England celebrations up close

England: Trafford; Garner, Harwood-Belles; Colwell, Aarons; Jones, Gomez (Scape 73); Palmer (Elliott 82), Gibbs-White (Archer 73), Smith Rowe (Madueki 66); Gordon (Doyle 82)

Spain: Tenas; Victor Gomez (Barnetxia 73), Paredes, Pacheco, Miranda; Blanco (Camel 82), Alex Baena (Aimar Oroz 59); Sunset (Vega 59); Rodri (Riquelme 59), Abel Ruiz, Sergio Gomez

European Under-21 Championship Finals

16-team final 2023: England 1-0 Spain (hosts: Georgia, Romania) 2021: Germany 1-0 Portugal (Hungary and Slovenia) 12-team final 2019: Spain 2-1 Germany (Italy and San Marino) 2017: Germany 1-0 Spain ( Poland)

Eight-team final tournaments (including group stage) 2015: Sweden 0-0aet, 4-3pens Portugal (Czech Republic) 2013: Spain 4-2 Italy (Israel) 2011: Spain 2-0 Switzerland (Denmark) 2009: Germany 4-0 England (Sweden) 2007: Netherlands 4-1 Serbia (Netherlands) 2006: Netherlands 3-0 Ukraine (Portugal) 2004: Italy 4-0 Serbia and Montenegro (Germany) 2002: Czech Republic 0-0aet, 3-1 France (Switzerland) 2000: Italy 2-1 Czech (Slovakia)

Eight Team Finals (Knockout) 1998: Spain 1-0 Greece (Romania)

Four-team Finals (Knockout) 1996: Italy 1-1 (1), 4-2pens Spain (Spain) 1994: Italy 1-0, Portugal (France)

Home and away final 1992: Italy 2-1agg Sweden 1990: Soviet Union 7-3agg Yugoslavia 1988: France 3-0agg Greece 1986: Spain 3-3agg, 3-0 Italy 1984: England 3-0agg Spain 1982: England 5-4agg Germany Western 1980: Soviet Union 1 -0agg East Germany 1978: Yugoslavia 5-4agg East Germany

European Under-23 Championship 1976: Soviet Union 3-2agg Hungary 1974: Hungary 6-3agg East Germany, 1972: Czechoslovakia 5-3agg Soviet Union

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