Berlin, JUL 6: German fans, deep down, perhaps never truly expected their side to go all the way to the Euro 2024 final. But that will not make the nature of their dramatic 2-1 defeat to Spain on Friday any less painful.
Having looked to have done enough to take their enthralling quarter-final clash to penalties as Florian Wirtz cancelled out Dani Olmo’s opener, up popped another substitute Mikel Merino with a powerful 119th-minute header to break the host nation’s hearts.
But if there was a sense of what if at the final whistle, it did not linger long as many Germany supporters stayed behind at Stuttgart Arena to applaud the efforts of their players.
“There was incredible drama right to the end, you could not take your eyes off it,” former Scotland international Ally McCoist said on ITV Sport.
“There was nothing between the teams. It was a flip of the coin.”
Ex-Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane added: “Soul, spirit and effort – all the momentum was with Germany. Did they just about to deserve to win? Probably.
“It was like two heavyweight boxers swinging at each other.”
