Thank you very much for joining me for all the silliness and success.
Here is the match report:
James Trafford: “I am very happy, very happy for the team and coaching staff. It was a team effort. We all really proud.
“When it was a penalty, I knew I was going to save it, so it was pretty easy.”
Lots of photos are being taken and the squad are making sure all the backroom staff after involved.
Harwood-Bellis lifts the trophy! They all seem quite happy.
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Lee Carsley is sent up to get his medal. He seems very popular with the squad. A good trait in a manager.
England give Spain a guard of honour, so that’s nice.
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We seem to finally be about to get the trophy lift. Anthony Gordon is awarded player of the tournament. Now the referees are heading up. He will have a sore shoulder after dishing out all the cards.
Read about how good James Trafford.
There are handshakes between the two teams, which did not look likely at one point.
The Spain players look almighty upset on the pitch. It was a close affair and extra-time would not have been too unfair but England just about edged it, I would argue.
The England team run on and dive upon Trafford, who is the hero. He did not concede a goal throughout the tournament. What a hero.
Full-time: England 1-0 Spain - England win the European U21 Championship
WHAT AN END TO THE MATCH! What a moment for England. Let’s all calm down. We’ve had more than 112 minutes of football overall. It was all very silly.
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RED CARDS: Blanco and Gibbs-White
90+10 mins: Obviously, this has resulted some moaning from Spain and Blanco is sent for a second booking, despite already being substituted. More red cards have come. That’s Gibbs-White dismissed.
90+9 mins: PENALTY SAVE! Abel Ruiz steps up … and Trafford guesses right, then saves the rebound and a third shot is sent over.
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90+7 mins: Ruiz gets the first touch, then Colwill makes a bit of contact. It’s a big decision. Slow motion makes it look worse. PENALTY!
90+5 mins: Abel Ruiz is tackled on the box by Colwill. The Spain striker is doing his writhing around in pain routine while play goes on around him. It’s all quite amusing and ends with Trafford being fouled when coming to claim the ball. They are checking for a penalty for the challenge on Ruiz … the referee is going over to the screen.
90+4 mins: Everything is happening in England’s half but Spain cannot find an opening.
Trafford takes the pressure off by coming to claim a high ball.
Madueke gets round the back of the Spain defence and looks up for a teammate but his pass is intercepted. I’d have gone to the corner, mate.
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90+2 mins: England, unsurprisingly, have 11 men behind the ball.
90 mins: Six minutes added on.
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89 mins: Sergio Gomez, who is playing on the right wing, cuts in and has a dig from 20 yards or so but it goes well wide.
England go down the other end and almost confirm victory. Tenas palms Elliott’s shot straight to Madueke, who shoots first time, only to see the goalkeeper clear it off the line with his feet.
87 mins: Riquelme is in the book for diving after leaping over an outstretched leg in the vicinity of the box. Good to have some variety with these cautions.
Lee Carsley is nervously pounding around his technical area.
85 mins: Spain pass it around the back and Archer gets the ball off Pacheco but it goes straight to the goalkeeper.
83 mins: More England subs … Gordon and Palmer off, Doyle and Elliot on. England very much want more people in the centre of the park.
There is a bit of pinball in the England box, ending with Veiga performing a terrible overhead kick that goes high over the bar.
81 mins: The ball lands at Veiga’s feet on the edge of the box but he cannot get any power behind his shot and Trafford essentially falls on it.
79 mins: Garner commits a foul and then Palmer decides to stop Spain getting the ball, resulting in Miranda giving him a little nudge to get it back. A Spanish coach complains about it all and is booked. Palmer is down on the deck and wants a stretcher, I assume just to wind up Spain some more.
77 mins: After the Mexican wave, we now have everyone waving their phone lights around. This is not a testimonial!
Sergio Gomez slips the ball into Riquelme, he turns quickly and jabs a shot wide.
75 mins: Trafford is cautioned for timewasting. A busy night for the referee who has now booked eight and sent two coaches off.
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73 mins: There is a Mexican wave inside the stadium …
Abel Ruiz gets another chance inside the box but his shot is always rising over the bar.
More changes for England with Skipp and Archer replacing Gibbs-White and Gomes.
71 mins: Gibbs-White is the latest to go in the book for having his arm up when jumping for a header.
69 mins: Sergio Gomez lifts a cross into the box from a central position but Abel Ruiz cannot direct his header on goal and England escape.
Moments later, Abel Ruiz drives a low shot from 20 yards but it is straight at Trafford.
67 mins: Madueke comes for England to replace Smith Rowe.
David Warren is here to make friends: “That goal should have been chalked off. The laws require attacking players to be 1 or more meters away from the wall on any free kick. But you can see clearly that Jones and his teammate encroached on the wall PRIOR to Palmer striking the ball. Not only was it not trifling, but Jones’s encroachment SCORED THE GOAL. That was poor refereeing and the laws were not applied correctly.”
65 mins: Gordon latches onto a ball over the top and finds Gibbs-White near the penalty spot but he cannot control the volley, which trickles wide.
Jones dispossess Veiga with ease inside the England half and runs a good 60 metres with the ball at his feet; he has runners but finds a bit of space inside the box and shoots only to see Tenas save.
63 mins: Aimar is only just on but he is already in the book. He is the latest to bundle over Gordon.
Aarons goes down on the touchline and a swarm of Spanish players descend on him, ending with Veiga giving him a little friendly tap. More aggression will soon follow, I am sure.
61 mins: Gibbs-White plays a lovely backheel to Aarons, who pulls the ball back from the byline but Tenas does well to stop the cross and claim the ball at the second attempt.
59 mins: Fouls, fouls, fouls. Pacheco bundles Gordon over.
Spain are about to ring the changes …
Sancet, Baena and Rodri off, Veiga, Aimar and Riquelme on.
57 mins: Baena drives Spain un the pitch but Garner puts in a superb challenge to dispossess him, much to the Spaniard’s chagrin.
55 mins: Spain have a few corners in a row but England are up to the task of defending them. England need to improve quickly.
53 mins: A disallowed goal for Spain should make them even more frustrated.
Sancet tries to turn and go beyond Colwill but the Chelsea defender is more than up to the task of stopping him. He’s been England’s man of the match thus far.
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51 mins: Palmer does too much and is dispossessed in his own defensive third by Baena. The City man chases down Baena and fouls him, resulting in the Spaniard getting his own back with a petulant kick. It’s simmering.
The free-kick is swung in and Abel Ruiz heads home powerfully but the offside flag goes up immediately. VAR checks … offside.
49 mins: Spain have started in a lively manner. We see another cross from Victor Gomez and Colwill again is in the way.
The ball is back on the England box. This time Sancet turns and shoots but Gomes is there to deflect it wide.
47 mins: Victor Gomez gets in a good position on the right, he drills in a cross but Colwill is there to intercept.
Second half
Here we go again!
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Wellity, wellity, wellity. Palmer’s free-kick deflected off Jones and he has now been awarded the goal.
It looked like one of the Spanish players said something towards Palmer on his way off for half-time. We might get a gloriously snide second half.
“Have both Spanish TVE and Channel 4 on.,” says Liz Brindley. “The Spanish commentary is like a machine gun .... non-stop, never a gap, telling you absolutely everything. Sounds like he’s going to have a heart attack. Such a joy that the English commenting is more relaxed and laid-back, with gaps, giving you the necessary facts and opinions. Such a contrast! Well done!”
It’s good to have options.
Half-time: England 1-0 Spain
A pretty poor half of football brought to life in the final minutes of injury-time. Spain seem to have lost their heads a bit.
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45+5 mins: There is a melee after the goal when the Spanish dugout empties, so all their players can moan about something or other. I do not have a clue how it started but it is ends with a handshake between the managers and bookings for Colwill and Sancet.
Someone on Spain’s bench is red carded. It looks like one of the coaching staff. To even things up the referee does similar for England. Ashley Cole is the man given his marching orders. All very silly.
GOAL! England 1-0 Spain (Jones, 45+4)
Palmer eventually takes the free-kick; he aims to curl it into the top corner but instead it hits Jones on the wall and wrong foots the goalkeeper, ending up in the back of the net.
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45+2 mins: Palmer is tripped on the edge of the box in a dangerous position …
45 mins: Palmer dribbles in the box but ends up going away from goal. The winger eyes a chance to win a penalty when he feels an arm in the back but the referee is having none of it.
Five minutes added on.
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44 mins: A free-kick is whipped into the box by Palmer, Colwill attacks the ball and heads it down, only to see it bounce off the post. That’s the closest we’ve come to a goal.
Based on the emails … no one is really enjoying this match.
“You’re may not believe this but Spanish TV still has teletext! It’s taken me years plus a rather boring match to find it,” says Paulo Biriani.
43 mins: “However, ‘Tactical battle’ would be a good name for a restaurant, especially the dating crowd,” suggests Ian Copestake.
What cuisine would they serve singletons?
42 mins: Palmer shows his quality with a lovely drop of the shoulder and turn before firing a shot from 20 yards but it is straight at the goalkeeper.
Joe Pearson says re 36 mins: “‘This game currently has no rhythm.’ If that is not the most British understatement of the year, I don’t know what is.”
40 mins: Spain get a corner on the right. Baena whips it but England manage to clear it. The attack ends when Miranda barges into the back of Garner. Oooooh this is poor.
38 mins: Mark Sydney emails: “‘Tactical battle’ is a pretty euphemism for ‘utterly boring’, just as a restaurant advertising ‘National and International Cuisine’ means ‘We can’t cook anything worth a damn’”
I would not attend that restaurant.
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37 mins: Gordon is back on and is immediately taken down by Blanco. Lordy this is becoming a tedious affair (unless you like fouls)
“The Spanish players seem to be very very delicate,” emails Paulo Biriani. “Really wish England would stop giving the ball away in the worst possible places. Spanish commentary saying their players need to calm down.”
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36 mins: Gordon is on the deck now. Not sure why but the referee has stopped the game. It turns out he has taken a whack in the midriff after running into Pacheco. This game currently has no rhythm.
34 mins: Rodri twists and turns on the edge of the box, eventually earning enough space to shoot from 18 yards. A deflection sends the effort just wide.
Baena is in the book for a crude challenge on Gomes.
32 mins: Abel Ruiz belatedly gets up and walks off the pitch. Meanwhile, Sergio Gomez whips in the free-kick but it misses both attackers and defenders, much to England’s pleasure.
30 mins: Gomes with another foul, this time on Abel Ruiz, who wants the referee that he is hurt. Spain are really spending plenty of time rolling on the turf. Good to slow things down when it’s so humid, I guess. Some magic spray is applied to Abel Ruiz’s leg.
28 mins: Gibbs-White gives Blanco a little nudge out of frustration. The Spain midfielder makes the most of it while the referee tells off Gibbs-White.
26 mins: Dean Ashton describes as a “tactical battle”. Something for everyone.
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24 mins: Gomes goes into the book after taking down Baena to end his dribbling venture through the middle of the pitch. Baena is on the deck having a good old fashioned moan about the infraction. It’s a foul, get up, move on.
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22 mins: A little rub of his noggin’ and Garner is back on.
20 mins: Spain have a corner on the left. Sergio Gomez curls it into the box straight Paredes, who flicks it just past the far post.
Some concern for England with Garner being assessed by the medical staff after a blow to the head. He is on his feet but looks a little weary.
18 mins: Spain are quite worried about Palmer. He receives the ball on the right flank and is immediately surrounded by three men.
Spain are having a bit more of the ball now but England look very dangerous on the break. They definitely have the greater pace in the final third.
16 mins: More lax work from England as Jones loses concentration and allows Baena to collect a pass that is meant for the Englishman. The Spanish midfielder drives forward but fires wide.
14 mins: Miranda whacks through the back of Palmer. I am not sure he fancies coming up against the City fan. He’s looked nervous from the start.
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12 mins: England try to play out from the back but Trafford’s pass is a poor one, allowing Spain to come straight back at them. Baena gets the ball on the edge of the box but flashes his shot just wide.
10 mins: Spain work the ball into the England box but Miranda has no conviction in his cross and Colwill whacks clear.
8 mins: England have dominated possession in the early stages. Spain will be looking to get a foot on the ball soon because they will also be keen to dictate the tempo.
6 mins: Some great work from Gordon on the left sees him cut in and fire a shot across Tenas, who gets down smartly to his left to palm the ball away. The ball almost goes straight to Palmer but he is caught on his heels.
Seconds later, Gordon gets beyond the defence on the left-hand side on the box and slides the ball across for Morgan-Gibbs. It looks like the Forest man has a tap in but Pacheco does well to put him off and the ball rolls to safety.
4 mins: Miranda pulls down Palmer on the right flank. I am not sure if this is an indication that he is in for a tricky evening against the City winger.
“My weather app says the humidity is 90% in Batumi, but more importantly, there are thunderstorms in the area,” says Joe Pearson. “Stay vigilant!”
That sounds unbearable.
2 mins: There was some booing when England took the knee. I can’t tell if it because the England players want equality and the fans are unhappy or because Spain did not make the same gesture.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Word on the ground in Batumi is that it’s pretty humid, so exactly the same as the UK. Stay hydrated, kids.
Channel Four’s coverage has begun. Who have we won? Jules Breach, Stuart Pearce and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Yes, please.
Goalkeepers’ Union.
I was on MBM duty for England’s semi-final against Israel and I can confirm today will be a lot tougher. Israel stuck 11 men behind the ball and had nothing going forward. Spain have plenty of talent, unsurprisingly, who will be hoping to take advantage of England’s lack of a traditional holding player.
And, for balance, Lee Carsley.
Get in the mood with some pure Sid Lowe on Spain.
Starting lineups
England: Trafford; Garner, Harwood-Bellis, Colwill, Aarons; Gomes, Jones, Smith Rowe; Palmer, Gibbs-White, Gordon
Subs: Griffiths, Rushworth, Thomas, Skipp, Archer, Branthwaite, Cresswell, Johnson, Doyle, Elliott, Madueke
Spain: Tenas; Victor Gomez, Paredes, Pacheco, Miranda; Blanco, Alex Baena; Rodri, Sancet, Sergio Gomez; Abel Ruiz
Subs: Agirrezabala, Leo Roman, Hugo Guillamon, Riquelme, Barrenetxea, Martinez, Mario Gila, Veiga, Aimar Oroz, Manu Sanchez, Camello, Bernabe
Preamble
Here we are: the final. England arrive after five wins in as many games through the tournament, which is pretty impressive. To make it more impressive, they are yet to concede a goal. Lee Carsley has formed an exciting and efficient side that has breezed their way to this stage. Morgan Gibbs-White’s form has been superb in this tournament, taking his performances at club level into international football. England have not won this competition since 1984, so it would be a fine achievement to do so 39 years later.
Spain have been pretty good themselves, thrashing a talented Ukraine team 5-1 in the semi-finals. Needless to say, this is an incredibly talented generation of young Spanish players. Barcelona and Real Madrid provide a single player each to the squad, which is an impressive eclectic mix. Osasuna, Girona and Athletic Bilbao are represented, as is Braga, who have two players within the team.
Whoever comes out on top will have thoroughly earned this trophy and will be a proud moment but the important thing for their respective nations will be to build on this success.
Let’s hope for a cracker!
Kick-off: 5pm BST
