Following England’s loss in the Euro 2024 final against Spain, Roy Keane has claimed that quality was missing from the squad.
Gareth Southgate’s side got some stick for not living up to expectations during the tournament, despite clawing their way to the final. However, they were defeated by the Spaniards with a score of 2-1, thanks to a late strike by Mikel Oyarzabal.
As the nation was coming to grips with another disappointing Euros final defeat, straight-talking Keane offered his analysis on why the Three Lions were unable to clinch victory against Luis de la Fuente’s team, while working as a pundit on ITV.
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The ex-Manchester United skipper said: “The best team won tonight and the best team won the tournament. They’ve got a lovely mix, they’ve got pace, they’ve got youth, they’ve got experience. They’ve got talent and have worked their socks off.”
“What they lacked tonight is quality. They’ve lacked quality maybe throughout the tournament, probably that fight and desire, options off the bench that got them to the final. But when you’re watching it, and again I’ve always said top level sport is brutal, it really is,” reports the Mirror.
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(Image: Getty Images)
“We’ve lost big games. Sometimes the opposition are just better than you. Spain were excellent. We’re talking about options off the bench, those boys done okay. They deserved it. To win seven games in a row, that’s amazing.
“Again, in sport, you have to step back and be humble. It’s great to win but also say, ‘Listen, we’ve been beaten by the better team’, take your medicine and regroup and go again.”
Spain took the lead in the 47th minute before Cole Palmer restored parity for England to give them hope heading into the final minutes of the match.
(Image: Getty Images)
But former England defender Gary Neville pointed out that Spain could have been home and dry well before then were it not for a string of fine saves from Jordan Pickford.
“They had a lot of chances. They could have won the game; we got back into it but they could have been 2-0 up before that. I have to say, to not control the biggest games has been a problem for England teams in many, many tournaments.
“To have to play from behind the ball and move the whole team up the pitch is very difficult. You can win the odd game doing that, you can win two or three games, but eventually you’ll come up against a team who have just got too much quality and that’s what we’ve found here tonight.”