Finals today

Wimbledon and Euro 24: from Alcaraz to the Red Furies, Spain dreams of a sports queen Sunday

This afternoon the tennis final between Alcaraz and Djokovic, this evening the European Championship final between Spain and England

14 July 2024

4' min read

Wimbledon which was a display of jewels to be admired with one's face pressed against the window, like a child in front of his favourite toy shop: Borg McEnroe Becker Edberg Sampras Navratilova Evert Graf the Williams up to the Fab Four; the Italian July inflamed by football, European Championships and World Cups, with often the chance to make it to the last act or almost.

Trajectories that crossed paths three years ago, precisely in London, when on the same Sunday the Azzurri of Mancini and Matteo Berrettini reached the finals on the grass of Wembley and Wimbledon, with the known outcomes. Since then, here is the little big revolution. The Azzurri summer became the summer of rackets, with first Sinner, then now Paolini and Musetti, while the summers of tricolour ball became increasingly tormented and brief.

So let's all enjoy this new Sunday of serve and volley, even if it will be hard to chase away the melancholy tonight, because that grass has not been dyed blue all the way through, and while in Berlin Spain and England will be celebrating a football festival in which we have only been faded supporting players.

Arriba España

What a Sunday awaits the Iberians instead! At Wimbledon there is Alcaraz to concede the encore in the final already won last year against Djokovic; and precisely in Berlin and precisely against the English, the Red Furies of the postmodern phenomenon Yamal (who wants the cup to celebrate his 17th birthday) aim to put the continental trophy in their trophy cabinet for the fourth time in history. If in the Eighties and early Nineties it was Italian sport that dictated the law in such a bombastic and blatant manner (although not yet, precisely, in tennis), a Sunday of this kind restores the physical and concrete sense of an overtaking that has long since taken place (even if at Olympic level we are ready to be surprised once again by a tricolour expedition that even aims to improve on the already flattering haul obtained in Tokyo three years ago).

Scacco al Re

It will be the first final with King Charles attached (we imagine) to the TV in his new role, and thoughts cannot but go to his mother, Elizabeth, the only one to shake the hand of a winning English national football team, the one that triumphed at Wembley in 1966. And in order to checkmate the King, in fact, the prodigy Yamal has been training for quite a while, as an interesting post by the Italian Federscacchi reminded us in the last few hours, pointing out that in March 2023 the Barcelona talent was portrayed at the Masia (the home of the blaugrana youth teams) engaged in a simultaneous chess match held by the Catalan champion of 10 years Adrià Perez.

In the Masia, chess is part of the training course, along with basketball and hockey, recalls the federal post, because the aim is to 'strengthen the training of certain invisible qualities, make the mind more agile, increase the ability to concentrate, foster decision-making, a sense of strategy, and finally widen the field of vision. Essential elements when playing chess, but also for sport and everyday life'. It will then be no coincidence that - before the semi-final against France in which he hurled a tracer of unprecedented power and precision at Maignan's shoulders - Yamal himself had posted this sentence: 'Move silently, speak only to say "Checkmate"'. I mean, if we were King Charles in front of the TV, we'd start to worry....

The previous

Spain and England have only clashed 12 times in official matches (FIFA World Cup, Euro, qualifiers and Nations League). England leads the way with five wins against Spain's four. There have been three draws. The last confrontation was in 2018, Spain-England 2-3 in Seville in the Nations League. The only knockout in major tournaments occurred 28 years ago. The Euro 1996 quarter-final saw hosts England defeat Spain 4-2 on penalties, after a 0-0 draw that also featured current England manager Gareth Southgate. England versus Spain was also the last Women's World Cup final, in 2023, with the Iberians winning 1-0 and that match becoming infamous for the kiss stolen by Madrid Football Federation president Rubiales from player Hermoso, with the ensuing earthquake leading to Rubiales' own dismissal. In the event of victory, needless to say, a more sober handshake is therefore highly recommended.

No holidays, we are British!

Meanwhile, new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Britain should 'certainly celebrate the occasion' should England win Euro 2024. The Labour leader's comment came after the Lib Dems called for a one-day holiday in the event of victory. But Starmer did not mince words as he did not forget the Euro 2021 final that England lost. "I participated in the last final. I don't want to repeat the experience, so I don't want to jinx it," he said. "The most important thing is to cross the finish line on Sunday." In 2022, Starmer had backed calls for a public holiday ahead of the England women's team's final at the European Championships, which they won. But in the end there was no holiday because it was deemed too expensive for the country. Public holidays cost the British economy an average of around £2.9 billion, according to UK government estimates in 2010. In short, it's all very well the 'backing home' rhetoric of football and so on, but these days government accounts still take priority.

The other young

If the eyes of Europe (and already of the world) are on Yamal, there is another young man who will make history tonight by virtue of what his identity card says. He is French whistle blower François Letexier, who at 35 will become the youngest ever referee in a European Cup final. Fun fact: Letexier will only be the second transalpine referee to referee the continental final; before him Vautrot, who whistled the final act of Euro '88 between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union, won by Van Basten and co. and also played in Germany (final in Munich).