SUB MIKEL STUNS US

Pain goes on as Oyarzabal strikes late

- JEREMY CROSS

IT'S not coming home - and the decades of pain go on.

Almost 60 years for England, when it comes to unburdening themselves on the international stage.

Defeat to Spain left Gareth Southgate and his fallen heroes looking bereft in Berlin. Their dreams of becoming kings of Europe dispatched to the dustbin.

Come the final whistle, the picture of desolation felt like watching a Picasso painting being ripped to pieces.

The ruining of a masterpiece that was supposed to end with the Three Lions writing their names into football folklore.

A trophy. Immortality for Southgate & Co. A victory parade through the streets of London and ending in a date with King Charles at Buckingham Palace.

But there will be no open-top bus ride now. Just a desperate flight home for a group of desolate men who have taken glorious failure to unprecedented heights. England have now lost back-toback Euros finals.

They have knocked on the door of greatness, but have not been able to walk through it.