Football Spain close in on title: Watch Oyarzabal’s nerve-wracking goal that gives them lead against England

Mikel Oyarzabal gives Spain the European Cup title. The Real Sociedad forward burst into the area, when the duel was 1-1, and gave the advantage to those led by Luis de la Fuente. The forward becomes the unexpected hero of the Hispanic team. In this way, he adds the trophies of 1964, 2008, 2012 and 2024.

The 27-year-old striker came on in the 68th minute. In the continental competition, he participated in all the matches, but he failed to score any goals. The striker arrived at the Euro with a season in which he scored 14 goals in 44 games.

The final goal was on the edge. The attacker was on the same line as the last defender and more than one Spaniard feared he would be cancelled. The VAR intervention clearly showed that there had been no error.

At Qatar 2022, Mikel Oyarzabal could not be present due to injury. Now he was in the European Cup. A few weeks before the final, when Spain was not yet among the favourites, the current hero stressed that: “I appreciate the day-to-day more and being able to train. Just being among the 26 chosen to play in a European Championship seems incredible to me. Injuries are something that nobody wants to suffer, but they happen and you have to accept it. Then you give much more value to everything. Obviously you’ll still be angry when you don’t do well, when games go bad or when you don’t play, but you appreciate everything that football encompasses in a different way.”