Spain’s media believe their national team will ‘have a score to settle’ with Cole Palmer in their Euro 2024 final against England on Sunday.
Gareth Southgate’s team advanced to the European Championship final for the second time in a row with a last-gasp 2-1 triumph against the Netherlands on Wednesday evening.
Spain, meanwhile, recovered from a goal behind to defeat France 2-1 in their semi-final on Tuesday night.
The Euro 2024 final between England and Spain on Sunday will be reminiscent of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final from last summer.
Palmer’s free kick, which took a huge deflection off Curtis Jones on the stroke of half time, was enough to secure England’s 1-0 win over Spain and their first trophy in the European Under-21 Championship since 1984.
However, Chelsea’s talisman sparked a huge brawl between the players after he celebrated England’s goal right in front of Spain’s dugout.
The players from Spain hurried over to express their rage at the England midfielder when they saw Palmer glaring at the coaching staff and replacements during his celebration.
In the ensuing violent altercation between the two teams’ players and coaching staff, England’s Ashley Cole and Spain’s Carlos Rivera were sent off.
The sole member of Spain’s Under-21 team attending Euro 2024 is Alex Baena, but Cadena COPE, a Spanish radio station, has not forgotten Palmer’s involvement in the altercation from the previous year and asserts that Luis de la Fuente’s team has a “score to settle” this Sunday.
Palmer’s celebration even upset his own Manchester City teammate Sergio Gomez, who was playing for Spain in that final.
‘I don’t know if we’ll talk or if he’ll say something to me. If he wants to apologise, let him, but the truth is that it wasn’t a good attitude,’ Gomez said after Spain’s defeat.
‘He wanted to celebrate it like that and that’s it. Everyone celebrates it the way they want and we know how the English are.
‘In the end they are the ones who make these provocations. He did it like that and there was a bit of a fuss.’
Asked about his celebration, Palmer said: ‘I was a bit frustrated with the way they were going down and screaming [earlier in the match]. The celebration was maybe a bit over the top but [I’m] just happy.’
Palmer is yet to start a game for England at Euro 2024 but has impressed in his four substitute appearances for Southgate’s side.
‘In the first few games we didn’t play the best that we could and everyone knew that,’ Palmer said at England’s training base on Thursday.
‘But now I think as the tournament’s gone on, especially yesterday, I think we had our best game in the tournament, and that’s what you want going into the later stages.
‘It’s huge. We played them last year in the Under-21s final, England versus Spain. Even that was a massive game, so I can’t imagine this one!’