More pain as tired England run out of miracles

AS SPAIN’S substitutes streamed onto the pitch and their backroom staff swallowed up Luis de la Fuente, Gareth Southgate stood stock still, hands on hips, briefly completely alone on the edge of his technical area.

- Dan Kilpatrick

After a beat, Southgate composed himself, first congratulating De la Fuente before taking a slow, purposeful walk around the pitch to begin consoling his broken players. He thanked the officials and fulfilled his media duties, saying it was not the time to discuss his future, before returning to stand sentinel in front of his squad to await the presentations, hands in pockets, distinctive in his now-familiar white polo shirt and dark trousers.

Watching Spain’s celebrations must have been as painful for Southgate as anyone connected with England; most of his players, with one or two exceptions, will have further opportunities with their country, but a second consecutive European Championship Final defeat might be Southgate’s last stand. He was today considering his future.

Southgate will question if he has taken England as far as he can; whether it is time to step aside and leave another manager to the job of building on his foundations and finally dragging the team over the line to a first trophy in what will be 60 years by the World Cup in 2026. If he agrees to stay on, in time Southgate will review another painful defeat searching for lessons, hoping it is another stepping stone to future success. He might conclude that his dysfunctional but resilient England side simply ran out of miracles here, their remarkable powers of recovery finally reaching a limit against Spain, who deservedly won through Mikel Oyarzabal 86th- minute goal to become the first team to win four Euros.

It is one thing to come from behind against Slovakia, Switzerland and Holland, but quite another against Spain.

Not attacking until they were a goal down was a theme of England’s tournament; they equalised in every knockout game, underlining their character and grit, but relying on stirring comebacks and bolts from the blue was never going to be sustainable indefinitely.