Alvaro Morata and Dani Carvajal celebrated the win with Spain fans in Madrid (Picture: Getty)
Alvaro Morata led the celebrations as Spain’s triumphant players returned from Euro 2024 to enjoy the moment with fans at home in the wake of the side’s 2-1 defeat of England.
Second-half substitute Mikel Oyarzabal was the hero for La Roja with a last-gasp winner at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Sunday night, securing the nation a record-breaking fourth European Championship title.
Cole Palmer had earlier made an instant impact off the bench to equalise and drag the Three Lions back into the contest, with the 73rd-minute strike cancelling out Nico Williams’ opener shortly after half-time.
But Spain held firm after a late goal-mouth scramble to ensure England’s 58-year-old for a major trophy goes on and Luis de la Fuente’s men celebrated the win into the early hours in the German capital.
The Spanish squad were back on home soil less than 24 hours later and thousands of supporters lined the streets as the victorious team were greeted to a royal welcome in Madrid yesterday.
After an open-top bus parade, Morata and the rest of the squad got on stage and joined with fans in belting out a number of songs – and the Spanish captain couldn’t resist having a pop at Jamal Musiala while chanting about Dani Carvajal.
‘The pitbull!Where is Musiala?! The greatest right-back in the world, Dani Carvajal!’ Morata yelled into the microphone, prompted great cheers from the surrounding fans.
A video of the moment then shows a topless Carvajal hug Morata and Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya before thumping his chest in the direction of the crowd.
Musiala had been one of the standout players of the European Championship up until the last-16 stage, scoring three goals in four games to help Germany set up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with Spain.
But the young Bayern Munich forward was unable to continue his impressive scoring run as the tournament hosts were dumped out of their own competition, with Mikel Merino scoring a dramatic winner deep into extra-time.
The goal came just moments after Real Madrid’s Carvajal was sent off for a second bookable offence in Stuttgart.
Musiala locked horns with Carvajal during Germany’s quarter-final loss to Spain (Picture: Getty)
During Spain’s celebrations, Morata also took the opportunity to pay tribute to Andres Iniesta and Bojan Krkic for the inspiration they had given him to help lead his nation to glory.
‘I would like to send my regards to Andres Iniesta, if it weren’t for him I wouldn’t have played in this Euros, and for Bojan too,
‘For my family, but also for Andres and Bojan who are largely to blame for me being at the Euros.
‘I already knew them as players, Andres as a person as well, but they are people who give you life, I remember them now, there is always light at the end of everything.’
In 2020, Barcelona icon Iniesta opened up on the depression he suffered in the build-up to the World Cup in South Africa ten years earlier, which Spain went on to win.
Former Barca and Stoke City star Bojan, meanwhile, had to pull out of Euro 2008 after a series of anxiety attacks.
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