England were stunned by a late Mikel Oyarzabal strike as Spain won Euro 2024 (Picture: Getty)
James Maddison has defended England’s players after the side’s painful Euro 2024 defeat to Spain, insisting the performance ‘doesn’t take away the amazing moments’ the squad have provided over the last month.
Second-half substitute Mikel Oyarzabal directed home a pinpoint Marc Cucurella’s cross to break England hearts in the 86th minute, securing La Roja a record-breaking fourth European Championship title.
Cole Palmer had given earlier Gareth Southgate’s men major hope with an exquisite 73rd-minute strike to cancel out Nico Williams’ opener, but the 2-1 loss ensured the Three Lions’ 58-year wait for a trophy goes on.
It remains to be seen if Southgate will stay on as England head coach, with the 53-year-old’s current contract due to expire in December.
Southgate decided to leave out a number of big-name players for this summer’s tournament as the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, Jordan Henderson and Maddison were omitted from his 26-man squad.
Maddison enjoyed a strong start to last season with Tottenham but struggled for form and fitness in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign and the attacking midfielder was left ‘devastated’ by the bold call from Southgate.
‘Devastated doesn’t quite cut it,’ Maddison wrote on X at the time.
Maddison was omitted from Southgate’s 26-man squad this summer (Picture: Getty)
‘Trained well and worked hard all week but if I’m honest with myself, my form for Spurs when coming back from injury in the second half of the season probably wasn’t at the levels I had set which gave Gareth a decision to make.
‘I still thought there would be a space for me in a 26 man squad as I feel I bring something different & had been a mainstay in this whole qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 in Germany but the manager has made the decision and I have to respect that.
‘I’ll be back, I have no doubt. Wishing the boys all the luck in the world out in Germany, unbelievable group and lads that I literally call some of my best friends. I genuinely hope football comes home.’
Kane and Bellingham have received heavy criticism from some quarters (Picture: Getty)
Many of England’s players, including Jude Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, have been on the receiving end of heavy criticism in the wake of the side’s crushing defeat in Berlin and throughout the tournament.
However, Maddison took to X this morning to jump to their defence and show his support.
‘So proud of that group of lads,’ the Spurs star wrote in an Instagram story.
‘Fell at the last hurdle but doesn’t take away the amazing moments this group the country once again [love heart emoji].’
After leaving out Maddison, Southgate explained the thinking behind his ‘tough call’ and underlined just how ‘sad’ it was to inform those players he omitted of the disappointing news.
‘The fact is we’ve got some players who have been playing extremely well all season in the league and we just feel other players have had stronger seasons – particularly in the past six months or so,’ the England boss told reporters last month.
‘We saw some fantastic performances the other night which underlined some of that and in the attacking area of the pitch we’re blessed with a lot of options and they’re all slightly different.
Maddison said he was ‘proud’ of England’s showing in Germany (Picture: Getty)
‘James [Maddison] and Jack [Grealish] would have provided us with something different as well and they’ve been tough calls.
‘They’re calls we’ve gone over and over and over as a group of staff to try to be fair and to try to use the right rationale.
‘We back our decisions but we recognise we could have gone a different route. The boys are big characters, fabulous team-mates and great boys to work with.
‘It’s sad to have to deliver that news to them.’
Maddison will no doubt be desperate to respond his England snub by starting the season strongly at club level with Tottenham.
Ange Postecoglou’s side open their Premier League campaign away to the newly promoted Leicester in a month’s time before playing host to Everton.
Maddison and Co then head to St James’ Park to face Newcastle before entertaining arch-rivals Arsenal for what promises to be an intriguing battle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 15.
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