Europe rests under its new champion. And as the sun rose over the German grounds which witnessed the month-long conquest for European supremacy that drew blood, sweat, and tears, the air still reverberated with the vamos and viva chants. The dramatic German summer fairytale came to its worthy nail-biting end with the winds of change, the winds of a Spanish second coming.
Football could not make it home neither could any dark horse reign as the Spanish Armada bore the winds of chings behind its sails to recapture part of its empire that it ruled over till a decade ago. And it made sure no question arose over its authority.
Spain, under Luis de la Fuente, dominated the tournament in every sense of the word.
From finishing first in the group of death — which had holder Italy and World Cup semifinalists Croatia — with all wins and no goals conceded, through the difficult path to the final facing world-class opponents in host Germany and former world champion France to the final against the talent-filled golden generation of England, Spain left no stones unturned.
While disappointments for Spain in the last decade was a lesson on how tactics become outdated, Spanish success in Germany is a lesson on how to take what is outdated and transform it to the requirements of time.
It did the same to set off the first era of Spanish dominance which began with a Euro Cup victory in 2008. Reeling from failures at big stages, then-Spanish coach Luis Aragones realised that his players were not physical enough for the style of play most teams adopted then and decided to bring in short passes to the game, something a certain Pep Guardiola was trying out with Barcelona club then.
The first era of Spanish supremacy could also be called the era of Tiki Taka as its midfield bamboozled opposition players with quick short passes, controlling possession, and moving the ball around with ease. The short passes brought Spain its second national title and first since the 1964 Euro Cup in the form of the 2008 Euro championship. The team followed it up with the World Cup two years later and went on to successfully defend its continental title two years later.
Reality strikes
But then came the new reality. Being at the receiving end of Tiki Taka for six years gave other teams enough time to decipher it and work out counter-measures. Spain did not see the need to keep updating its gameplay and crashed out of the 2014 World Cup in the group stages, spelling out the beginning of the end.
But Spain’s obsession with passes and possession grew with the years, but that obsession, like all obsessions, only led to more tragedy.
Spain also failed at transition of generation as it struggled to find replacements for its champion players and found it difficult to strike the chemistry between those it managed to find. And its exit from 2022 World Cup, bowing out to Morocco in penalty shoot-out, after not managing to score seemed like the end of the once-feared La Roja.
The World Cup defeat paved the way out for manager Luis Enrique, who failed to replicate his success with Barcelona with the national team, and the lesser known de la Fuente took over.
Familiar figure
Though de la Fuente was new to the global limelight, he was well known to the Spanish players, many of whom played under him at junior levels. de la Fuente started his shifts with Spain national teams in 2013 when he became the manager of the under-19 outfit.
And while their seniors went farther off their game, de la Fuente led the youngsters to glory in the European championships in 2015. He became the manager of the under-21 side in 2018 and brought home the European title for the category a year later.
When de la Fuente took over the senior side, he knew what he had to do. And one year later, Spain seniors got its first silverware in 11 years in the form of UEFA Nations League and is now the champion of Europe.
New identity
de la Fuente spread out the game from midfield to the flanks, and with the arrival of young guns Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams to set the wings on fire, Spanish football is getting a new identity.
Runner-up England — which had a bumpy ride to the final circumventing the odds, depending on individual brilliance and last-minute stroke of luck — gave the champion an unexpected fight in the final.
Though arguably better teams than England stumbled on the way, the fact that England came close to a football homecoming for back-to-back tournaments could give its coach Gareth Southgate some legitimacy.
First act
As the tournament became the first act for a handful of new stars with the likes of Lamine Yamal, the young player of the tournament, Nico Williams and Arda Guler, some goodbyes were inevitabe.
With players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Luka Modric at their sunsets and Toni Kroos calling it a day, the winds of change are whistling through the whole of Europe.
