England avoid torment Scotland subjected to as squad fly home from Germany

England players were clapped onto their bus this morning (Monday) as they left their hotel in Berlin to begin their journey home following their Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain. But they avoided the same torment the Scotland team were subjected to when they headed home as there was no Bavarian band playing the Three Lions aces off.

England underwhelmed throughout the early stages of Euro 2024 but reached the showpiece event after overcoming Slovakia, Switzerland and the Netherlands in the knockout stages.

But the final proved to be one step too far as Gareth Southgate’s team were beaten 2-1 by Spain at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Mikel Oyarzabal popped up with the winning goal four minutes from time after Cole Palmer had cancelled out Nico Williams’ strike.

England fans gathered outside the hotel to wave their heroes off, with staff from the establishment also lining up to applaud the players.

And the England stars appeared, somewhat understandably, to be in a sombre mood as they made their way to the bus a month and a day after the tournament had begun.

Southgate’s side will at least take heart from the fact they were able to progress all the way to the final following a tumultuous run of form over the last few weeks and will be proud of their tenancity and never-say-die attitude, which pulled them through many of their matches.

Scotland, in contrast, would have no doubt been desperate to make a low-key exit from Germany after being dumped out of the tournament at the group stages.

Steve Clarke’s side were only able to pick up one point at the tournament courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Switzerland. The team were thrashed 5-1 by Germany in their opening match, before finishing up with a 1-0 defeat against Hungary.

And as the Scotland squad started their voyage home last month, the BBC cameras captured footage of a Bavarian band playing upbeat music as players made their way towards their bus.

England will begin to unravel the data from their tournament in Germany to understand how they can move forward in the hopes of finally landing a major trophy for the first time since 1966.

And Southgate and the FA will make a decision about whether the current manager will continue to oversee the side after nearly eight years in the role.

“I don’t think now is a good time to make a decision like that,” Southgate told ITV on Sunday night as he discussed his future. “I’m going to talk to the right people and, yeah, it’s just not for now.”