July 10 – The celebrations went on long into the night and beyond after England’s young lions upset five-time winners Spain 1-0 to win the Under-21 European Championship on Saturday for the first time in 39 years in the most dramatic of finales.
Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford was England’s hero, saving an Abel Ruiz penalty in the sixth minute of added time – awarded after a VAR review – then keeping out substitute Aimar Oroz’s follow-up.
In the process, Trafford became the first man to keep six clean sheets at the tournament.
Curtis Jones scored the only goal in first-half stoppage time when he deflected Cole Palmer’s free kick past keeper Arnau Tenas.
In an often bad-tempered match, both sides were reduced to 10 men in the dying seconds, with England’s Morgan Gibbs-White and Spain’s Antonio Blanco receiving their second bookings for dissent.
England assistant coach Ashley Cole and one of his Spanish counterparts had already been dismissed from the dugout at the end of the first half whilst there were 10 yellow cards.
Trafford revealed after the game that he predicted he would make a penalty save.
“I told everyone this morning I was going to save a pen,” he said. “When they got a penalty, I knew I was going to save it.”
England under 21 manager Lee Carsley, who was on a rolling 12-month contract, told UEFA’s website: “They deserve this, they’ve worked so hard, they’ve been so motivated all season. Spain are a very good team but to get the win and keep a clean sheet, the players deserve so much credit.”
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