BERLIN (AP) — Spain won the European Championship for a record fourth time after beating England in the final for a seventh straight win in the tournament.
And after impressing throughout Euro 2024, Spaniards dominate the combined team of the tournament chosen by writers covering the competition for The Associated Press.
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DIOGO COSTA (Portugal)
Costa’s three saves in the penalty shootout win over Slovenia in the round of 16 was the standout moment for a goalkeeper in a tournament where many shone, including Georgia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was excellent against Portugal in the group stage and had 29 saves in his four games, and Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was the shining light in an otherwise woeful title defense by Italy.
DANI CARVAJAL (Spain)
What a season for the right back. An unlikely scorer for Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final when he won the competition for a sixth time, Carvajal then became a European Championship winner with Spain. An aggressive, in-your-face defender, he even got on the scoresheet again at Euro 2024 — for his first international goal — against Croatia in the group stage. He missed the semifinals because of a red card against Germany in the quarterfinals.
MARC CUCURELLA (Spain)
Few could have seen the big-haired Cucurella having such an impact for Spain at Euro 2024 when he was out of the team at Chelsea for much of last season and receiving criticism from fans. He found some form for Chelsea as an inverted full back late in the season and brought that to the Euros, with his big moment coming when he provided the assist for the title-winning goal by Mikel Oyarzabal. Cucurella appears to be a hated figure in Germany now after his handball that wasn’t awarded against the host nation in the quarterfinals, earning him jeers from Germans in the crowd in the semifinals and final.
WILLIAM SALIBA (France)
Saliba wasn’t sure of his place in the France team heading into the tournament. He is now after a string of mighty displays, including completely dominating Cristiano Ronaldo in the quarterfinals. Great in the air, composed on the ball and a strong reader of the game, Saliba could lay claim to being the world’s best center back after a commanding season for Arsenal, too.
ANTONIO RUDIGER (Germany)
The last memory of Rudiger at Euro 2024 was him looking helpless as a cross drifted over his head toward Spain’s Mikel Merino, who planted a header into the corner to eliminate Germany in the quarterfinals. Other than that, Rudiger was immense again — just like he often is for Real Madrid in big games — with his tough-tackling, no-nonsense approach.
RODRI (Spain)
Named UEFA’s player of the tournament, Rodri set the stage for the young wingers in front of him to shine. The Manchester City midfielder gave Spain the structure that made its free-flowing attacking play work, even if he went off injured at halftime in the final. He also scored against Georgia in the round of 16 to steady a Spain team which briefly seemed in shock after conceding the opening goal.
TONI KROOS (Germany)
The Real Madrid great signed off in style in his final tournament before retiring from soccer. Kroos returned to the Germany team this year after three years away and seemed to give an out-of-form squad much-needed confidence as a calm, authoritative presence in midfield, but the journey ended in defeat to Spain in the quarterfinals. Injuring Spain’s Pedri cast a shadow over Kroos’ exit, though.
JAMAL MUSIALA (Germany)
A creative spark for the host nation, Musiala led Germany with three goals that showed off his deft footwork, pace and game awareness. It was a standout tournament for 21-year-old attacking midfielders, with Musiala’s teammate Florian Wirtz and the Netherlands’ Xavi Simons both among the most impressive players at Euro 2024.
LAMINE YAMAL (Spain)
A star is born. Much was made of Yamal’s age, but it still seemed easy to forget that such a confident, technically skilled player was just 16 for most of the tournament. Yamal turned 17 the day before the final and celebrated by setting up Nico Williams for Spain’s opening goal, his fourth assist of the tournament. A spectacular goal against France in the semifinals was his biggest highlight.
NICO WILLIAMS (Spain)
The other half of Spain’s dazzling pair of wingers, and a comparative veteran at the age of 22, Williams tormented right backs all tournament with his pace and trickery — particularly Italy’s Giovanni Di Lorenzo in the group stage — and his well-taken goal against England in the final underlined his contribution.
GEORGES MIKAUTADZE (Georgia)
In a tournament where traditional center forwards like Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski and Romelu Lukaku struggled, Mikautadze introduced himself to a wider audience with three goals — the joint-most at Euro 2024 — despite playing only four games. Mikautadze combined especially well with winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as Georgia shocked Portugal 2-0 for what was by far its biggest-ever soccer moment as an independent nation.
COACH: LUIS DE LA FUENTE (Spain)
De la Fuente might have just overseen one of the best campaigns by a country at any major tournament. Spain beat four former world champions — Italy, Germany, France and England — on route to the title after tweaking its style of play under De la Fuente to dovetail its traditional composure in possession with more directness up front. He is a trusted disciple of the Spanish federation who has nurtured many of his players through the country’s youth teams all the way to the senior set-up, and says he wants to stay to lead Spain to the World Cup.
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AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024
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