Round about the capital of Germany, you can hear a famous supporters’ anthem sporadically break out. It’s a song most familiar for the refrain: “It’s coming home,” it goes, “it’s coming home – football’s coming home!”.
It has a catchy tune and wistful lyrics, first composed 28 years ago, when England hosted the European Championship and a pair of TV comedians combined with musicians for Three Lions, tapping into the longing of those who follow the English national team to replace decades of frustration with a single triumph in a major trophy.
The prize is still elusive, but closer on Sunday in Berlin, where England’s so-called Lions meet Spain in the Euro 2024 final, than it has been at any time except three summers ago when England reached the final of the last Euros, losing to Italy on penalties.
That was at home, at Wembley in London. Victory on Sunday, in a foreign city, would give extra oomph to the idea of bringing “football home”.
The song, the chant, the claim of home-ownership over the world’s most popular sport sometimes irritates opposing players.
If England – or at least Britain – can lay some claim to inventing football under its current rules, and, in the shape of Premier League, England is certainly home to the most globally popular domestic league, there is a long list of European nations who can regard themselves as far truer homes for elite international success.
England v Netherlands player ratings
Spain would be among them: in this century alone, they have lifted two Euros titles, which is two more than England ever have.
But the past counts for only so much, except when history imposes a burden of expectation. The Three Lions song made a catchphrase of the line “30 years of hurt”, counting back the three decades between England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, at home and those 1996 Euros.
That longing for a major trophy now stretches to 58 years. “I want to win so much on Sunday it hurts,” says Gareth Southgate, the head coach who has taken England far nearer to a major title than anybody in his job over those 58 years – a World Cup semi-final in 2018, now the finals of successive Euros – but still found himself being jeered by fans after a second successive dull draw on the trot in the group phase of the current campaign.
England have been sluggish for long phases of the tournament, a poor sum of their many gifted parts. The criticism has often been venomous. What Southgate has worked diligently at is transferring the pressure away from his players.
Like all international coaches, the detailed tasks of bettering players is largely beyond his remit and mainly down to their club coaches, with whom they work for nine months a year. And here’s one intriguing aspect of this final. This England’s team, man for man, have in large part been improved, directly or indirectly, by exposure to Spanish football.
Southgate’s most dynamic midfielder, 21-year-old Jude Bellingham, has just won a league and Uefa Champions League double with Real Madrid and if his club form has not been consistently replicated for his country over the last four weeks, Bellingham kept England alive at the Euros with a 95th-minute, improvised overhead volley to take a losing cause against Slovakia in the last-16 meeting into extra time.
Spain 2 France 1 - in pictures
A similar, knife-edge suspense was broken, in the 90th minute of the semi-final against the Netherlands, substitute Ollie Watkins completing a comeback – England have gone 1-0 down in every knockout match – with a fine, angled match-winner. Watkins’ rise up the professional ladder is relatively unusual in that, in his early 20s, he was still playing in the third tier of English football, at Exeter City.
What’s more usual is that he has climbed to a peak under the guidance of a Spanish coach. In just under two seasons under the studious tutelage of Unai Emery at Aston Villa, Watkins has become twice as effective a Premier League goalscorer as he had been under Emery’s predecessors at the club.
Scan through Southgate’s preferred outfield players and it’s rare to find one whose game has not been shaped by Spain. Kieran Trippier, like Bellingham, won the only league title of his career there, at Atletico Madrid. Kyle Walker, John Stones and reigning Premier League Footballer of the Year Phil Foden bring a tactical flexibility and confidence to England that has been nurtured by Pep Guardiola’s coaching at Manchester City. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have advanced their development under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.
Fair to report that Arteta and Guardiola have seen their players perform with far more panache in the jerseys of Arsenal and City than for England in Germany. England topped their group, but did so via a narrow win over Serbia, a draw – again having taken a lead – against Denmark and a goalless stalemate versus Slovenia.
“We weren’t playing at the level we wanted,” Southgate acknowledges. “That was the coaching challenge. How do we fix what we’re doing? In the end that’s the job. The job is to allow the players to perform at their best.”
Put brutally, England have done that in isolated moments, saved by Bellingham’s acrobatics, by Saka’s superb equaliser against Switzerland in the quarter-final; by immaculate conversions in the penalties against the Swiss and by Harry Kane from the spot to draw level against the Dutch; and by Watkins.
Put optimistically, at least for the tens of thousands of England supporters filling out the boulevards of Berlin, the best is yet to come. A team including Kane, shy of the form that made him the Bundesliga’s leading scorer with Bayern Munich last season, Bellingham, Foden, Rice and Saka must be overdue a truly commanding 90 minutes.
Spain, victorious in all six of their matches at the Euros, and winners against Croatia, Italy, Germany and France on the way to win final, have enjoyed a series of such performances. They carry much the stronger momentum, thriving on the kind of expansive width that England, especially on their left, have conspicuously lacked.
Lamine Yamal, the Euro 2024 revelation, turned 17 on Saturday. Nico Williams celebrated his 22nd birthday on Friday, and If ever two young men have had a coming-of-age tournament, this is it.
Spain’s tyro wingers, with a tournament goal each and four assists between them, have given La Roja a new dimension, says head coach Luis de la Fuente. “We needed to add something to our traditional strengths,” he said ahead of the final.
“We are recognised around the world for our controlled style, our passing combinations, but what was missing was being able to shift to a faster game, to counter-attack. We’ve made the team less predictable. The key is having the players for it.”
Spain will press high up the field, entrust the outstanding Rodri, of City, to impose midfield command and if, just ahead of Rodri, Dani Olmo continues to shine as he did against Germany and France, they will not miss Pedri, ruled out of the final with a knee injury.
Form says clearly that this European Championship trophy should be coming home to Spain, where, after all, it was housed for eight years between 2008 and 2016.
For England, almost 60 years unfulfilled, Southgate admits: “There’s still some questions to answer.”
Third Test
Result: India won by 203 runs
Series: England lead five-match series 2-1
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Five expert hiking tips
- Always check the weather forecast before setting off
- Make sure you have plenty of water
- Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
- Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
- Take your litter home with you
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
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