I wasn't sure who to bet on until a few hours before the game, but I settled with England, and fortunately, this was my biggest win of all.
Congratulations on your win
I don't know why that is a suprise for you, Gareth Southgate knows how to gets to finals but winning it, is were there's a curse. I was watching the game with hope knowing England could turn the table around and they did eventually, making it back to back finals for the three lions. I got this feeling, this might just be the attempt they finally lift a trophy. England luck has just being their best player in this tournament.
On playing quality alone, England clearly do not deserve to anywhere the final whereas Spain have been the team of the tournament. Southgate might find a way to get to finals and semi-finals of these huge competitions but they are not playing convincing football, on many occasions they seem vulnerable in defence and seem lost when it comes to midfield ideas. They are also not making most of any of their opportunities in front of goal as their strikers are finding the back of the net.[/quote]
At the moment, the odds for the final are as follows:
2.40 - 2.90 - 3.55
Spain is the favorite, but is rated significantly worse than 50%, England is worse than 30%. It seems that everything looks +- fair, but it seems to me that Spain is undervalued and there is value at odds of 2.40.
In the final, motivation (or rather adrenaline or, on the contrary, destructive excitement) may change the balance of power of the teams “on paper”, but if these were ordinary games, then I would say that Spain should be rated as 2.0
By far most providers will keep odds on Spain winning. We know it is a final and anything can happen but Spain are playing excellent as a team, they can absorb pressure when they are in defence and they can attack with ease when going forward. England look tired and beaten before the game has even kicked-off.
Honestly, this year's Ballon D'or shortlisted players are arguably the worst we've seen since it was founded, with Vini and Bellingham both ahead on the power ranking - I mean, Foden and Palmer had better individual seasons than these guys. This is not to say that any of these players deserve it, but it is worth noting that Madrid PR has done more harm than good to this award over the years. None of these players deserves it more than Rodri, but football these days is all about goals and assists, with no mention of ball recoveries and game influencing.
What has to be addressed is the era of Ronaldo and Messi dominating the Ballon d'Or is over, they will never win it again.
I remember Ribary, he played stunning football almost consistently with Bayern Munich during his 11-12 year there especially when they won the treble with that excellent 2012/13 season. Ribery was nominated for the Ballon d'Or alongside Ronaldo and Messi but ended up third and Messi was second while the winner was Ronaldo. Even in 2021 and 2023 when Messi was awarded the wins they not based on merit they were politically based and definitely unworthy. The Ballon d'Or has no real value left except being an expensive publicity stunt.