Jamie O’Hara and Jose Enrique – Euro 2024 Blog: Final preview
As the dust settles on the semi-finals, the Euro 2024 Championship commences on Sunday in Berlin with England facing Spain at the Olympiastadion.
Grosvenor Sport ambassadors Jamie O’Hara and Jose Enrique – whose respective nations are facing each other – preview the final.
Spain vs England – Sunday 20:00
Jamie:
England were the favourites going into the tournament, no one was talking about Spain. They’ve played well, but England were favourites and they’ve got the better squad, no doubt. You look at Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, all of them have been the best players in their respective leagues this season.
The standout performers of the tournament have been Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, they have lit the competition up whereas England stumbled into a semi-final before producing a good performance against Netherlands. Spain will be looking at England now saying they’re a good team, but Spain have been the best in the competition by a long way and I think they are the favourites for this final.
England showed in the semi-final that they can play football; they can attack and create. I didn’t think much of the Netherlands after they scored, they just sat behind the ball. The two teams in the final are brilliant and there are match winners on both sides.
I can see Spain attempting to control possession but I don’t see England just sitting off and allowing them to do so. England are more than capable with the ball; these players are too good to just sit off and not have the ball at their feet. Spain will look to hold onto it and pass it, but don’t underestimate England.
The game is won and lost with Lamine Yamal. Who Southgate picks to deal with him is a massive decision, do you start Kieran Trippier who’s good defensively and can defend onto his stronger right foot where Yamal likes to cut in on his left, or do you play Luke Shaw and take Yamal the other way? To be honest, I don’t think Yamal is going to care who he plays against, he’s a serious talent and he can go either way – England must find a way of managing him.
I can’t get away from Spain, they have been the best side in the competition. If England are at their absolute best then they have a chance. They have to stop Lamine Yamal and they have to be clinical. If they play how they did against the Netherlands in the first half then they’ve got a chance, but they need to do it for the full 90 minutes. If they play how we did against Switzerland, Spain will beat them. I hope they turn up but I just don’t know if they can produce another performance like the one in the semi-final. I’ll go for a Spain win.
Prediction: Spain 2-1 England (8.5/1)
Jose
If we are talking about performances, Spain have been the best team in the tournament. I didn’t expect to see them come so far pre-tournament, but they are well deserving of their place in the final.
Spain are going to control the game. I expect Gareth Southgate to set his team up in the same way they have all summer and sit back. However, when England conceded the early goal in the semi-finals, they looked a completely different team, that’s when they started to push and threaten more.
If Spain don’t score early then I can see England sitting back much like they have been doing for most of the tournament. However, this is not going to work because if England sit back against Spain, then they will really struggle against what I believe is the toughest attacking outfit they’ve faced yet. The likes of Lamine Yamal will really cause the England backline trouble if they’re too deep.
If both teams don’t sit back and play too cautiously and instead really attack with their fluid front-lines, then this has the potential to be a really great game. If you look at the talent on both sides, England probably have even more talented players then Spain. However, given the performances across the whole tournament you would have to say Spain are the better team.
Prediction: Spain 3-0 England (22/1)
Jamie’s team talk for the England squad
This is it, the Euros final. We have worked so hard to get here, we haven’t played the best, but we have improved and we have to step up. You’ve made it happen, we know we can go out and do this. Spain have got a good team but we have got the players to go out and win this. Go out there and do it, you’ve got us here, enjoy yourself and win it. Some of you will never live this moment again, leave it all out on the pitch and make us proud!