Spain earned its place in the final of the European Championship after defeating France 2-1 in the semi-final, a victory that was well-deserved. The two sides of the Pyrenees experienced vastly different outcomes, with Spanish media rejoicing in triumph while French media was plunged into deep dejection.
Following their return to a major tournament’s final after 12 years, Spain is expected to be the favored team whether they face the Netherlands or England in Sunday’s Berlin final.
The Spanish media lavished praise on the national team’s performance, with Marca going so far as to dub them “The Artistic Team,” emphasizing that “La Roja advanced to the final in an impressive manner, with Yamal becoming the youngest goal-scorer in Euro history at the age of 16 years and 132 days.” Other Spanish media outlets also showered the young prodigy with accolades, with AS calling him “the man who brought joy to all of Spain,” and Mundo Deportivo writing, “Yamal put France in trouble.”
The Spanish press found particular amusement in Yamal’s “small retaliation” against Rabiot, with Mundo Deportivo using the youngster’s goal to tease Kylian Mbappé, who recently joined Real Madrid. The newspaper’s deputy editor wrote in a commentary, “Mbappé removed his mask, just to better see Yamal’s splendid goal.”
The French captain was another key figure of interest for the Spanish media, with Marca noting, “Mbappé stumbled once again in the Euros, failing to progress past the round of 16 in the previous tournament and bowing out of this edition with one goal and one assist, a low efficiency.” AS even published an article titled “Mbappé’s Euro Curse,” posing the question directly, “Was Mbappé’s performance disappointing when he missed a great chance in the 86th minute?”