Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Roy Keane both made their feelings clear on what they saw from England’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Euro 2024 on Sunday evening culminated with England falling short of the Henri Delaunay trophy for the second consecutive European Championship tournament.
The Three Lions were considered one of the tournament favourites ahead of Euro 2024, but England failed to impress with their performances at the competition.
Gareth Southgate’s men had punched their ticket to the final of Euro 2024 with a 2-1 comeback win over the Netherlands in Dortmund last Wednesday.
Spain, on the other hand, were in red-hot form over the course of the entire tournament and were widely tipped as the favourites to win the final on Sunday.
Luis de la Fuente’s men knocked out host nation Germany and France in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively before signing off Euro 2024 undefeated.
Neville’s reaction to Spain vs England at Euro 2024
Spain made it seven wins out of seven in their Euro 2024 campaign with their 2-1 win over England at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
England and Spain played out a 0-0 draw in the first half before Luis de la Fuente’s side finally broke the deadlock in the second half through Nico Williams.
The Three Lions climbed back into the contest in the 73rd minute after Chelsea star Cole Palmer came off the bench and cancelled out Nico Williams’ opener.
However, Gareth Southgate’s men had their hopes of lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy dashed after Mikel Oyarzabal fired Spain back into the lead.
Speaking on Euro 2024 final, Gary Neville praised the performance of Spain against England even after losing Manchester City star Rodri during the match.
The Manchester United legend was impressed with how the Euro 2024 champions played at the tournament, which included without the influence of Pedri.
“Spain had a lot of chances, they could have won the game before we equalised,” Neville said on ITV Sport, as per Sky Sports.
“We got back into it, but we could have been 2-0 down before that and to not control the biggest games has been a problem for England teams in many, many tournaments.
“And to have to play from behind the ball and move your whole team up the pitch from the edge of your box to the other end of the pitch is very difficult.
“You can win the odd game doing that, you can win two or three games, but eventually you play a team with too much quality and that is what we found tonight.”
He added: “We talk about Spain, they have lost their best player [Rodri] at half-time and they have come out and performed like that in the second half without him.”
“And they also lost Pedri earlier in the tournament, the two best midfield players in the tournament.”
Keane reacts to Euro 2024 final and Spain
Roy Keane, much like Neville, was on punditry for ITV during the Euro 2024 campaign and the United legend raved about the performances of Spain.
The Sky Sports pundit made it clear that he felt Spain were the “best” team on the night in the Euro 2024 final and were the top side at the tournament overall.
“The best team won tonight,” Keane said.
“They [Spain] were the best team throughout the tournament.
“I think tonight [England] lacked quality. They’ve lacked quality throughout the tournament. It was probably fight and desire, options off the bench that got them to this final.
“Top-level sport is brutal. We’ve lost big games, and sometimes the opposition are just better than you. Spain were excellent.
“You have to step back and be humble. It’s great to win, but when you’re beaten by the better team, take your medicine and regroup and go again…
“You go home, see your family, go on holiday, you’re back in pre-season in a couple of weeks. You have to go again.
“The real frustration for England will be that they’ve given their all. After the game when they got beaten, they’ll think, ‘Did we give it our best?’
“They haven’t given their best the last few games, they got away with it. Eventually, they got found out.”