Izuchukwu OkosiEngland on Saturday evening won the European Under-21 Championship for the first time in nearly 40 years after a 1-0 win over Spain in Georgia.
The highlight of the tensed game was the dramatic last-minute penalty save by goalkeeper James Trafford ensured the Young Lions held on to beat Spain.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelTrafford, who is set to join Burnley from Premier League champions Manchester City in a deal that could be worth up to £19m, kept out Abel Ruiz’s low spot-kick in the 99th minute after a lengthy VAR check.
The 20-year-old then produced another brilliant stop on the follow-up before being mobbed by his team-mates.
The winning goal came with virtually the last kick of the first half when a Cole Palmer free-kick deflected off team-mate Curtis Jones and wrong-footed goalkeeper Arnau Tenas to find the bottom corner.
Spain, who had scored 13 goals in the tournament, had a Ruiz goal ruled out for offside after half-time, before Trafford’s late heroics sealed England’s victory.
The win meant Lee Carsley’s talented side are the third England team to win the competition after previously picking up the trophy in 1982 and 1984.
They are also the first team to record six successive clean sheets in the tournament’s history.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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