As a football observer, I enjoyed seeing a 38-year-old Navas and a 16-year-old showcasing inter-generational understanding with Spain. Its progression down the left have been a recurring feature of their run to the final of UEFA EURO 2024, yet it was from the other side of the pitch that the decisive moments came during their Munich semi-final against France.

The source of the finest moment of all was Lamine Yamal, whose magnificent equalising goal provided the platform for Spain’s comeback win and earned the 16-year-old winger a place in the history books as the youngest scorer in a EURO final tournament. It features in-the-video analysis below, which also highlights Yamal’s work with Jesús Navas, the 38-year-old full-back who, stepping in for the suspended Dani Carvajal, combined impressively with the teenager.

Along Spain’s route through this tournament, UEFA’s technical observers have noted more than once the understanding between Marc Cucurella and Nico Williams on the left, but this time it was the duo on the other flank who were singled out, with Navas’s presence in advanced positions allowing Yamal to drive inside more than in previous games. In the lead-up of the goal we see the areas of the pitch he occupied most frequently – the lightest square being where he popped up most often.

As the sequence unfolds, we see Yamal move inside and pick up a loose ball more than 25 metres from goal. With a drop of the shoulder, he steals space from Adrien Rabiot before unleashing his wondrous strike, sending the ball arcing into the top-right corner of Mike Maignan’s goal. The xG of the shot was just 0.023.

If France coach Didier Deschamps felt his players were “too far” from the scorer, he did declare the goal “magnificent”. The UEFA technical observer panel of Ioan Lupescu, David Moyes and Aitor Karanka offered a different superlative – “fantastic” – and went on to praise the youngster’s all-round game: “At such a young age, he works hard defensively and is a threat on the ball, impressing with his positioning and forming a productive partnership with Jesús Navas on the right.” The data underlines his defensive contribution: he was joint-second among the Spain players for ball recoveries (four) and joint-first for tackles (three). He also made 18 pressures.

As for his combination with Navas, this is prominent in the second clip. With the right-back progressing on the outside, we see Yamal move inside once more and his movement disrupts the France defence, left-back Theo Hernández passing him on to Kylian Mbappé in order to watch the run of Navas.

Yamal continues to advance on a horizontal run – one of 12 ball carries from him overall – and it ends with him feeding Dani Olmo between the lines. From there, Olmo returns the ball to Navas on the right and, though the clip ends here, the ensuing cross will lead to Olmo’s excellent winning strike. If Yamal, who turns 17 on Saturday, made history as the youngest-ever scorer in EURO history, Navas, at 38, achieved his own milestone as the oldest player to appear in a UEFA European Championship or FIFA World Cup semi-final.

Despite the age difference, the combination bore fruit. For Navas’s part, in his 59 minutes on the pitch he made five clearances – joint-first among the Spain players – while his total of three crosses from open play matched Carvajal’s highest figure from any of his four appearances.

Nico Williams
Observed a different side to Nico Williams’ game in Spain’s UEFA EURO 2024 semi-final win against France. Nico Williams has earned plenty of plaudits for his attacking efforts for Spain on their path to the final of UEFA EURO 2024. Yet during Tuesday’s semi-final victory against France, it was the winger’s defensive work which caught the eye of UEFA’s technical observers.

The productive understanding between Williams and full-back Marc Cucurella was highlighted earlier in the tournament, but the focus here is the support that he gave Cucurella in containing the threat of France right winger Ousmane Dembélé.

Dembélé played a part in France’s opening goal with his switch of play to the left to Kylian Mbappé, who subsequently delivered the cross for Randal Kolo Muani’s header, yet overall Spain’s left-sided duo dealt with him well. As technical observer David Moyes said: “Dembélé had a couple of runs but Spain doubled up with Cucurella and Williams.”

The depth Williams has dropped to support Cucurella against Dembélé, turning a possible 1v1 into a 2v1 in Spain's favour. Although Dembélé made nine crosses from open play (with one of them completed), the Cucurella-Williams combination succeeded in stopping him from attacking the box at times, thus limiting his effectiveness.

The average distance between Spain’s left-sided pair, which was 8.7m – a sign of Williams’ defensive discipline on the night. To offer a comparison to previous fixtures in this tournament, they had an average of 13.5m between them against Germany, with 10.9m vs Italy and 9.8m vs Croatia.

Another measure of Williams’ hard work was his number of ball pressures in the defensive third compared to previous matches, underlining that he was tighter to the opposition and more active defensively. Against Croatia in the opening game, he made eight such pressures. That rose to ten against Germany in the quarter-finals (within the 90-minute data). Against France, he made 13 – the second-highest number among Luis de la Fuente’s players – and his defensive output also included three ball recoveries to add to the four that Cucurella produced across the game on that side of the pitch.

Overall, Williams’ attacking contributions have been eye-catching at this EURO – he ranks third in the tournament for take-ons, for example, behind only Jérémy Doku and Jamal Musiala with 34. Yet, as he showed in Munich, he can be safely entrusted with defensive duties too.

Eng V Ned: Watkins Sends England Into Ecstasy
Substitute Ollie Watkins struck an added-time winner as England sealed a place in the UEFA EURO 2024 final in dramatic style. As has become customary in Germany, the game was preceded by pyrotechnics but that display was quickly eclipsed by the fireworks on the pitch. This semi-final was seven minutes old when Xavi Simons lit the touchpaper, dispossessing Declan Rice, advancing and, though stretching, still managing to unload a blistering shot past Jordan Pickford.

For the third knockout match running, England were behind. How they responded. Within 11 minutes it was all-square, Harry Kane continuing the Three Lions’ spot-kick perfection with an effort that gave Bart Verbruggen no chance after Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to have infringed. So far, so frenetic. But why stop there?

Dumfries was soon in the thick of it again with a goal-line clearance to deny Phil Foden; next the Dutch right-back was at the other end, heading against the bar. The excellent Foden responded in kind, grazing the upright with a fine curling strike. It was end-to-end stuff, but if the first half was action-packed blockbuster, the second gave way to a taut thriller.

The chances dried up but not the intensity and drama. The Netherlands slowly gained the upper hand, England wrestled it back. Bukayo Saka had a goal ruled out for offside. Extra time loomed when the stoppage-time twist came, as Watkins collected fellow substitute Cole Palmer’s pass, worked just a slither of space and drilled an unerring shot into the far corner. The Three Lions roared. Next stop: Berlin.

A much improved second-half showing from the Oranje ended in late heartbreak. They made The Three Lions’ defence work hard, with Pickford called into action on several occasions. Wout Weghorst’s presence made him an effective target man and helped bring the other forwards into the game. All that was missing was the finishing touch.

Another resilient England performance turned on its head late on! The Three Lions were unable to build on the impetus they created in the first half, and the second period was probably shaded by the Oranje. However, England’s defence held firm – as they have done for most of this tournament – and Watkins ensured they reached the EURO final in successive editions.

Ollie Watkins, England forward reported: “I’ve been waiting for that moment for weeks. I got the opportunity and took it with both hands. I said to [fellow substitute Cole Palmer]: ‘We’re going to come on and you’re going to set me up.’ I knew, as soon as he got the ball, he was going to play me in. When it went in the bottom corner, it was the best feeling ever.”

Gareth Southgate, England manager shared: “We felt, energy-wise, that we were starting to lose a bit of pressure, and Harry [Kane] picked up a knock. Ollie [Watkins] can press well and get those runs in behind. We felt it was a good moment to try it. I’m so chuffed for Ollie to get his moment. To be able to take England to a first [major] final overseas, I’m immensely proud of that.”

Ronald Koeman, Netherland coach said: “I’m disappointed. The match started really good for us and we scored. After that we had problems in midfield, allowing dangerous players like Bellingham and Foden into the game. We made changes, got control back, and in the last 20 minutes we felt we were going to go on. But then the goal – a really good goal – right at the end.”

Jude Bellingham, England midfielder expressed: “Ollie came on and won it. We’re really grateful because I don’t know if I had another half an hour in me. I’m so happy for him. He’s the hero and he saved us. We’ve delivered again. These moments are great. They bring us together as a team and a family. It’s about bringing that into the final.”

About the writer
Shahzeb Ali Rizvi is a sports aficionado with a keen eye for the intricacies of cricket and football. He can be reached at [email protected]