National Teams Win and Lose
A summer of international soccer ended with two major tournament finals yesterday. In Berlin, Spain defeated England 2-1 to claim a record-fourth UEFA European Championship title. A cagey first half gave way to a dominant Spanish performance in the second. After going ahead through a Nico Williams goal, Spain had chances to put the game away. But the Three Lions equalized out of nowhere with just over fifteen minutes to play. Spain continued to press and was rewarded a few minutes from time as Mikel Oyzarzabla scored to retake the lead. A late England chance was cleared off the goal line, and while Spain celebrated, England was left to ponder what is now 58 years without a major tournament title.
Stateside, Miami had chaos at the final of the Copa America between Argentina and Colombia. The match was delayed over an hour as fans stuck outside the gates led to dangerous overcrowding. Eventually, the gates were opened, and thousands of fans poured into the stadium as security abandoned the procedure of verifying tickets. This led to crowd control issues and some frightening scenes. On the field, the match was stop-start and physical. Argentina captain Lionel Messi re-injured his ankle in the second half and had to be taken off. After a 0-0 tie, Argentina pulled ahead with only minutes to go late in extra time, with tournament-leading goalscorer Lautaro Martinez giving Argentina a 1-0 win and its second straight Copa America title.
