Rodri is the fulcrum of Spain's play and thus the counterpart to England's Declan Rice
Image: Keystone
Jordan Pickford was the penalty hero against Switzerland...
Image: Keystone
...but Unai Simon looks a touch more settled
Image: Keystone
Declan Rice shows strong statistical values
Image: Keystone
Alvaro Morata is a center forward who can be measured by more than just his goals
Image: Keystone
Harry Kane, on the other hand, is an attacker who has only impressed with his goal rate at this tournament
Image: Keystone
Kobbie Mainoo has earned the trust of national team coach Gareth Southgate
Image: Keystone
Lamine Yamal is already a great at the age of 17
Image: Keystone
Rodri is the fulcrum of Spain's play and thus the counterpart to England's Declan Rice
Image: Keystone
Jordan Pickford was the penalty hero against Switzerland...
Image: Keystone
...but Unai Simon looks a touch more settled
Image: Keystone
Declan Rice shows strong statistical values
Image: Keystone
Alvaro Morata is a center forward who can be measured by more than just his goals
Image: Keystone
Harry Kane, on the other hand, is an attacker who has only impressed with his goal rate at this tournament
Image: Keystone
Kobbie Mainoo has earned the trust of national team coach Gareth Southgate
Image: Keystone
Lamine Yamal is already a great at the age of 17
Image: Keystone
The European Championship final between Spain and England can be broken down into a few key duels. The comparison shows: The Spaniards, who have been so confident so far, do not have advantages everywhere.
14.07.2024, 05:31
14.07.2024, 09:21
SDA
Simon vs. Pickford
Unai Simon has been part of the Spanish national team for four years and has taken on the difficult task of shaping the era after goalkeeping icon Iker Casillas. Casillas, who retired in 2016, was in goal during La Roja's most successful period, winning the European Championship title twice (2008 and 2012) and the World Cup once (2010). Since the Real Madrid legend left football, several have tried to take over his legacy. After David de Gea and Kepa Arrizabalaga, Unai Simon has now mostly been in goal for a good four years. The Athletic Bilbao keeper has 45 international caps to his name and has conceded three goals so far at this tournament. He has good reflexes and certainly has an advantage over his English counterpart when it comes to controlling the penalty area.
Jordan Pickford was the hero in the England team after saving the penalty in the quarter-final against Switzerland. The 30-year-old, who earns his money at Everton, has a reputation for making mistakes which, in the worst-case scenario, can lead to a goal being conceded. Pickford has had to make four saves so far at this tournament and, according to UEFA statistics, has made 14 saves (Simon 12). It is obvious that the two final goalkeepers will not match the figures of Georgia's Giorgi Mamardashvili, who leads this statistic (29), as Spain and England are not the underdogs.
Rodri vs. Rice
Last season, the two met in the battle for the Premier League title, with the Spaniard, who plays for Manchester City, coming out on top. At this European Championship, Rice, who plays for Arsenal, has a slight statistical edge. Together with Frenchman Jules Koundé, the 25-year-old Englishman has won the most balls ever (41). Rodri follows in 11th place in this category with 31. And Rice is the perennial runner of this European Championship. In the six games so far, he has run 74.9 km, seven kilometers more than the runner-up, team-mate Phil Foden. Rodri (62.7) follows in 8th place.
In addition to winning the ball back, distributing the ball is of course also one of the core tasks of the two midfielders. Rice has played 488 passes so far, making him number three behind team-mate John Stones and Germany's Toni Kroos for the entire tournament. Rodri has set up his team-mates 406 times so far, with the 28-year-old Spaniard having the marginally higher success rate. 93.8 percent of his passes have found their target. (Rice 93.3)
Morata v Guéhi, Kane v Le Normand
It was a scary moment. When a streaker ran onto the pitch after Spain's 2-1 semi-final win over France, a security guard trying to protect Alvaro Morata slipped at the stupidest moment and hit the Spanish captain on the knee. But the 31-year-old Atlético Madrid striker, who has repeatedly come in for criticism in his home country because he has only scored once, will be fit to play in the European Championship final.
And he will be up against an opponent who has quickly become a permanent fixture in England's back line. Marc Guéhi, the 23-year-old central defender from Crystal Palace. When he was suspended in the quarter-final against Switzerland, coach Gareth Southgate changed the system and played with three defenders. After Rice and Koundé, the man with roots in the Ivory Coast won back the most balls (40).
On the other side, England captain Harry Kane will have to deal with Robin Le Normand. The 27-year-old Real Sociedad defender was suspended in the semi-final, but he is actually set to play in tandem with Aymeric Laporte. And thus regularly takes care of the opponent's best attacking players. Kane has had a mixed tournament. Last season's top scorer in the Bundesliga has scored three times so far, scoring the decisive goal in extra time against Slovakia (2:1 n.V.) and also equalizing the early deficit in the semi-final against the Netherlands (2:1) with a penalty. But in Southgate's system, the 30-year-old can develop much less. However, if he manages to score a goal in the final, his chances of taking home the golden boot as the tournament's top scorer are intact.
Yamal vs. Mainoo
Lamine Yamal is experiencing a European Championship tournament for the history books. The Spaniard, who turned 17 on Saturday, became the youngest player in the history of a European Championship with his first appearance. And after his wonderful long-range strike in the semi-final against France (2:1), the youngster, who grew up in a suburb of Barcelona, also recently became the youngest ever European Championship goalscorer. The fast and tricky FC Barcelona attacker is the best provider of the tournament with three assists and, together with Nico Williams, forms a feared wing-back line that poses a major challenge to opposing defenses.
The youngster in the England team, meanwhile, is Kobbie Mainoo. The 19-year-old Manchester United midfielder had played just three international matches before the European Championships. In Germany, he only missed out in the second group game against Denmark (1:1), which shows that Mainoo has already earned his place in the Three Lions squad despite his lack of experience. "With his vision and his ability to shift the game, he brings an element to our team that we didn't have before," coach Southgate praised him after the semi-final win in Dortmund. "What he does looks so simple, but it's not simple at all."
