The under-21 European Championship was won by England for the first time since 1984 thanks to a goal scored by Curtis Jones during Saturday’s final match against Spain.
Abel Ruiz, the captain of Spain, was awarded a penalty kick in the 99th minute of the game that took place in Batumi. Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford made a save to retain England’s record of not allowing a goal during the whole tournament.
“I told everyone this morning I was going to save a pen, and when it was a penalty I knew I was going to save it,” said Trafford, who has been prominently connected with a £19 million ($24 million) transfer to Premier League newcomers Burnley. “I told everyone this morning I was going to save a pen,” Trafford added.
“We are a very good team, and we believe that no one can score against us and we showed it,” said the captain. “We proved it.”
It was a golden moment for England’s young teams as Lee Carsley’s team continued their dominance by winning all six of their games in Georgia and Romania.
In addition, the Three Lions are the current European champions at the under-19 level, and in 2017, they won the World Cups for the under-17 and under-20 age groups.
The game’s lone goal was scored after a free kick taken by Cole Palmer was deflected off of Jones and found its way into the top right corner. The play occurred in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
After the halftime, Spain did had a chance to score when Ruiz headed the ball home; however, the offside flag prevented this from happening.
Twenty minutes from the end, the Braga striker had an even better chance, but he missed the open goal by heading the ball the wrong way.
Arnau Tenas made several fantastic stops to prevent Noni Madueke and Jones from scoring a second goal for England, but England still had a chance to put away the five-time defending champions until the stunning finish.
But in the nick of time, they needed Trafford to come through with some heroic actions.
After blocking Ruiz’s penalty kick and Aimar Oroz’s subsequent attempt, the England players and coaching staff began wildly celebrating their victory.
The tension did not dissipate there, however, as Morgan Gibbs-White and Antonio Blanco, both of whom had been replaced at that point, were both issued red cards.
Ashley Cole, who now serves as a member of the England coaching staff and once played left back for Chelsea and Arsenal, was also taken off the bench earlier.
However, in front of England’s head coach Gareth Southgate, the under-23 team managed to go one better than the senior side did when they were defeated in the final of Euro 2020 two years ago.