It's agony for England once more as slicker Spain kill those Euro cup dreams

Euro Championships Final

England 1-2 Spain

Olympiastadion Berlin

Well of course Spain were always going to win it. It's what they do. They don't lose finals.

They had a freakish sequence of 26 unbeaten major finals involving national and club sides to defend. England had Harry Kane's zero trophy status to preserve.

Of course there was plenty of upbeat talk beforehand. Why not? The runes suggested fortune was on the side of the Three Lions, with those late goals against Slovakia and Holland en route to a second successive final in this competition.

And weren't Spain due a duff performance after winning six out of six while producing the best football seen at this edition of the Euros?

Records are meant to be broken and the one accumulated by Spanish teams is frankly ridiculous. Since Valencia lost the 2001 Champions League final to Bayern, there has been nothing but glory in every single final.

Real, Barca, Sevilla multiple times. Villareal against Man United - the national team in one World Cup and two Euros. That's just nuts. They've even supplied runners up in some of those Iberian triumphs.

In other words, we hardly needed the extra ominous warning supplied by Carlos Alcaraz' latest Wimbledon title triumph a few hours before kick off.

Spain also had Rodri, who never loses, although he went off at half time.

As it was, the breakthrough came soon after the restart, with England perhaps not fully switched on and stretched by a move from right to left which freed up the brilliant Nico Williams for a smart finish across Jordan Pickford. The assist? It came from the other great winger in the ranks, Lamine Yamal, who turned 17 this week.

Suddenly the openings became more pronounced and more chances flowed for the slicker side who have dominated these Euros.

On the hour, Gareth Southgate recognised an immobile Kane was a passenger he could ill afford to persist with and semi-final hero Ollie Watkins was on with half an hour to play.

Dani Olmo should have doubled the lead and they would have done but for a fine Pickford save.

A goal of sublime quality from Cole Palmer - on for Kobbie Mainoo - raised hopes of an upset. Bukayo Saka's marauding run, Jude Bellingham's lay off and a cool gliding shot found the bottom corner.

But the joy was snuffed out when Mikel Oyazerbal stole in at the near post to bundle in a cross from Palmer's club teammate Marc Cucurella.

A couple of headed clearances off the line ensured the trophy would be heading south once more.

This was a result to rub in what a missed opportunity it had been in 2021 against a pretty ordinary Italian side. It was much less of near miss this time because the winners such a finely tuned unit. They just know how to win games like these.