Euro 2024: Can Yamal-Nico help Spain emulate their Class of 2008?

The wait between Spain’s first Euro Championship in 1964 and the second one in 2008 was a yawning 44 years — long enough for them to be called under achievers. It was, in contrast, 12 years between their third triumph in 2012 and the fourth one last night, and it came in a style which underlined their credentials as one of the favourites for the Fifa World Cup in two years’ time.

Do Alvaro Morata’s men have it in them to match the exploits of their golden generation which went on to win back-to-back Euros and the World Cup in between in 2010? A footballing feat which looks like a dream but the likes of Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas, Fernando Torres, Carles Puyol and Xavi have been effusive in their praise about the manner their successors went about their job in Germany.

“A real team, European champions. I said I was proud and today I am even prouder. It confirms what we are. For me, they are the best in the world and today I confirm that definition,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, who let his guard drop for the first time in a month as he was given victory bumps by his bunch of jubilating boys after the triumph at a historic venue where Jesse Owens once ran in front of Herr Hitler.

Seven wins in as many matches — a statistic which even the Class of 2008 didn’t enjoy — underlined the kind of impact they created on the tournament while they enjoyed an overall 65 per cent of the possession in the final.

With the help of hindsight, La Fuente deserves all the credit for giving the 16-year-old Lamine Yamal a place in the final squad when most coaches would have possibly felt he was still too raw for the challenge. The spotlight on Yamal meant Nico Williams, the other precocious talent at 22 with already a World Cup experience on his CV, was somewhat overshadowed but he decided to seize the moment in the final with a clinical strike to see Spain go ahead soon after the breather.

However, the manager combined such a calculated move also with pragmatic selection calls like keeping senior pros like Dani Carvajal and Jesus Navas, the 2010 World Cup veteran in their ranks to provide the big match experience. The other lesson was as Spain have often learnt the hard way in the past that the tapestry of passes could be of little avail if they cannot complete the job in the final third and La Fuente got his boys to fuse their flair with a more direct style of football.

There are no prizes for guessing that Yamal received the Young Player of the Tournament while Rodri was the Player of the Tournament. “We made history but we cannot stop here,” said Rodri — the 2026 World Cup being clearly on their radar.

In the championship game, Yamal – who scored that dream goal in the semi-final against France – played a big hand in Spain’s first goal. He found Williams with a well-timed release that belied his age after Carvajal had set the move going – a pass that caught England defender Kyle Walker out of position. Williams scored with a left-footed grounder to underline the Spanish threat down the wings.

An immediate spin-off of the Spanish triumph, for the global football fan, will be a major revival of interest in La Liga. For Yamal, sky is the limit as Paris St. Germain are already reported to be ready to break the bank for him.

 Long live tiki taka…