La Rojita are European U19 champions for the seventh time in their history. Masterfully managed by Luis de la Fuente, who deserves this victory more than anyone for his work ethic and dedication, Spain trumped Russia in the final with a solid 2-0 victory.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit,” said Aristotle. The words of the great Greek philosopher could be applied to this U19 squad, which coincidentally and somewhat appropriately won their seventh European title on Greek soil. They’ve now won seven championships in fourteen years. That’s absolute domination for you.
Right from the off it looked as if Spain had learnt their lessons from their group phase defeat to the Russians. Priority number one: stop the counterattack. From there, La Rojita found it easy to impose themselves on the game. The heavy pressure began early, with 8 shots in just 9 minutes. Ceballos went close first with a shot that tested Mitryushkin before Pedraza had two chances, Ceballos another and Mayoral forced a good save out of the keeper. Centre back Meré had two cracks at goal in the 14th minute but his ‘ghost goal’ was deemed to have not crossed the line by English referee Anthony Taylor. Replays were inconclusive and the score stayed at 0-0. The Russians reacted timidly, mustering a shot from Sheydaev, but by then Spain had established control. The typical final nerves were nowhere to be seen.
Despite their good play, Spain slowed a little towards the end of the first half. But, just as the half time break drew near, nice play from Ceballos forced Mitryushkin to parry his shot onto the crossbar. The rebound fell kindly for penalty box predator Borja Mayoral, who headed the ball home and put Spain ahead.
In the second half La Rojita lagged a little once again, as they have all tournament, but the Russians’ morale was already shot. Chances continued to come. In the 62nd minute Taylor disallowed a goal by Vallejo but Spain’s disappointment didn’t last long. In the 78th minute, Nahuel latched onto a nice through ball by Asensio to put the game out of reach.
Spain arrived in Greece with a squad that lacked the big names of years gone by. But that squad knew that there is strength in unity. The undisputed talent of Asensio, the magic of Ceballos, Vallejo’s leadership and the charisma of Pape Cheikh. Each brought a different quality to the table and this was the result: a happy group of friends and champions of Europe.