- Kyle Walker has opened the scoring for Spain’s winning goal in the Euro 2024 final
- The England star said he had to wipe away tears after the final in Germany
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Kyle Walker has admitted Spain’s Euro 2024 winning goal still “haunts” him and feels he could have been “a bit quicker” in stopping Marc Cucurella, who gave Mikel Oyarzabal the chance to score the winner.
England were looking to take revenge for their defeat in the final of Euro 2020, but Gareth Southgate’s team suffered the same fate again as against Italy.
Walker also admitted that losing both finals ‘hurt a lot’ as the Three Lions had a ‘better squad’ this time around.
After a goalless first half, Nico Williams left England stunned by firing the ball past Jordan Pickford from a difficult angle.
England, who struggled to create chances at Euro 2024, hit back through Cole Palmer, who fired low into the far corner.
England star Kyle Walker has admitted Spain’s winning goal at Euro 2024 ‘haunts’ him
Walker (left) thinks he could have been ‘a little quicker’ to take out Marc Cucurella (right), who put Mikel Oyarzabal in the winning position
Oyarzabal would secure victory in the 86th minute of the match, handing England a heartbreaking defeat. But Walker, speaking to BBC Radio 5Live Podcast, ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker’ stated that he felt things could have been different if he had closed Cucurella sooner.
“Yes,” said the Man City star, when asked if Spain’s second goal “haunts” him. “Well, I got a boot on it. It hit the bottom of my boot. The ball broke in the middle and it’s like I saw that no one was there.
‘And then you think, “Okay, could you have pulled someone back? Could you have pulled someone else back? Could you have pulled a striker back onto the keeper? Could you have gotten the keeper up a bit more? Could I have stopped the cross then?”
‘He could run with the ball and play the ball wherever he could. Why didn’t anyone follow him?
‘But ultimately that ball, it’s like the law of grass, that ball is the last one that goes into the penalty area, that one ends up in the back of the net. The centre halves, are they marking tight enough?’
He added: ‘You go through all kinds of situations, but at the end of the day the only thing you have control over is your own situation.’
Oyarzabal (right) would secure victory in the 86th minute of the match, handing England a heartbreaking defeat
The England defender admitted he had to ‘wipe away a few tears’ as he reflected on the loss
“I probably should have gotten to the line a little quicker and tried to block it. Sod’s Law.”
The 34-year-old Manchester City defender was one of England’s most experienced players at the tournament, having made 90 appearances for the Three Lions during his career.
But after the defeat, Walker admitted he “had to shed a few tears” as he reflected on the loss.
When asked if the defeat in Germany was worse than the defeat Gareth Southgate’s side suffered at Wembley in 2021, Walker replied: ‘No, it hurt a lot. It hurt a lot because the squad was probably better this time.
“We had been through it before and it wasn’t like, ‘We’re here and we’re in new territory.’
Walker said the defeat to Spain ‘hurt a lot’ as he compared it to their defeat to Italy at Euro 2020
“In the match against Italy we were definitely the better team and it went to penalties. It’s always very difficult to lose on penalties,” he added, comparing the final
‘That loss at Wembley, from a goal up to conceding – which we never do. I feel like Spain were definitely the better team. I thought we tried to grab and grab.
‘But in the match against Italy we were definitely the better team and then it went to penalties. It’s always hard to digest when you lose on penalties.’