James Maddison says England 'fell at last hurdle' as he makes feelings clear after Euro 2024 final heartbreak

Tottenham Hotspur star James Maddison has showed his support to England stars after The Three Lions' 2-1 UEFA Euro 2024 final loss to eventual winners Spain on Sunday (July 14).

England, who failed to defeat Italy on penalties in the Euro 2020 final, became the first side to lose two successive Euro summit clashes. Nico Williams handed Spain a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute before Cole Palmer equalized with a left-footed strike in the 73rd minute. But, Mikel Oyarzabal scored the vital winner in the 86th minute of the recent tie.

After The Three Lions' disheartening defeat in the Euro 2024 final, Maddison sent a message to his compatriots and lauded them for their displays. He captioned an Instagram story (h/t Daily Express):

"So proud of that group of lads. Fell at the last hurdle but doesn't take away the amazing moments this group [provided] the country once again [love heart emoji]."

England, who are yet to win a single European Championship crown, finished atop Group C of the Euro 2024 with five points. They beat Serbia 1-0 in their opening tie before registering a 1-1 draw against Denmark and a 0-0 draw against Slovenia in the group-stage.

Afterwards, Gareth Southgate's side knocked Slovakia out with a 2-1 victory at the last-16 stage of the tournament. They beat Switzerland 5-3 on penalties in the last-eight clash after a 1-1 draw at the end of 120 minutes and defeated Netherlands 2-1 in the semi-finals.

Pundit asserts 2 England stars should have come on at half-time in Euro 2024 final loss

Speaking on Sky Sports, Gary Neville stated that England boss Gareth Southgate should have introduced two pacy players at half-time in recent loss to Spain. The Manchester United great said (h/t Metro):

"At half-time, I felt Ollie Watkins should have come on for Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon should come in on the left, with Jude Bellingham move back into central midfield. I just felt we needed Watkins, [Bukayo] Saka and Gordon up top. We were playing deep, we were being pushed back deep by a fantastic Spain team."

Neville, who represented The Three Lions 85 times as a player, added:

"When you're playing deep, you need to be able to counter-attack but we didn't have that. We needed to be able to travel from box to box and get players on to carry the ball with pace. Those are the two changes I thought would have happened."

Ollie Watkins, who contributed 27 goals and 13 assists for Aston Villa past season, replaced Harry Kane in the 61st minute of the Euro 2024 final. He made just three substitute appearances at the tournament.

Anthony Gordon, on the other hand, featured in just a single minute of action at the Euro 2024 and was an unused substitute in Sunday's tie.