Álvaro Morata skippers Spain to Euros glory in what could be his final act for the country

I really didn’t see this coming. I had booked a flight home to Phoenix for Sunday afternoon, failing to remember that the Wimbledon men’s final, the 2024 Copa América final, and the UEFA Euro 2024 final were going to be held on this date. A masterpiece in time management from Jeremy.

Anyway, I’m writing this graf from terminal C at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, waiting for my connection to Phoenix. I did manage to watch my guy Carlos Alcaraz win Wimbledon again, breezily taking out Novak Djokovic in straight sets, and was very thankful that Spain took care of England before extra time so I could make my (albeit short) flight from Northwest Arkansas to Phoenix by way of Dallas.

Spain are the new champions of Europe, clinching a third Euros title in 16 years with a 2-1 victory at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Sunday, thanks to an 86th-minute winner from substitute Mikel Oyarzabal — finally getting his flowers after being a favorite of LALIGA freaks everywhere for years. Álvaro Morata got to lift the Henri Delaunay Cup as Spain’s captain — a giant moment of validation for one of the country’s most-criticized players — amid swirling questions over his future at Atlético Madrid, which he refused to address immediately post-match.

Spain surpassed practically every pre-tournament expectation I had for this particular group. La Furia Roja played the best football of any nation at Euro 2024 and set new single-tournament records for wins (seven) and goals scored (15). Not even the hallowed Spain sides of 2008 and 2012 did that. No other nation has more European Championship wins than Spain, now on four.

In a tournament where many teams turned defensive in the knockout phase (and England pretty much stayed there for the entire tournament), there was a bold directness and a youthful joy about this Spain side — four of the players in it played under boss Luis de la Fuente during the 2019 Euro U-21 Championship final. I have been very critical of de la Fuente since he replaced Luis Enrique 18 months ago, but he sure had a way with this group. He trusted the discipline and neat passing of the Rodri-Fabián Ruiz double pivot so that he could turn Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, and Best Young Player award winner Lamine Yamal loose behind selfless, hard-working skipper Morata. It was a treat to watch them.

(It was also clear while watching this iteration of Spain why de la Fuente has never imagined selecting Koke for it. Still don’t know why Marcos Llorente was cut from the final squad, though.)

Watching Spain at Euro 2024 also made clear that we should be cheering for almost anyone other than FC Barcelona to acquire Nico, the Man of the Match in Berlin. LALIGA president Javier Tebas has — incredibly — declared that Barcelona are “close” to being back in line with the competition’s “1:1 rule,” meaning the Catalans will soon be able to spend one euro for every euro earned. That would make it possible for them to activate Nico’s €58 million release clause at Athletic Club.

Athletic president Jon Uriarte last week blasted Barça and the Royal Spanish Football Federation for failing to “protect” Nico from the “bombardment” of questions about where he’s going to play next season. Uriarte’s statement really did smack of a “fine, leave, we don’t need you” — precious few clubs in Spain develop and invest in youth like Athletic — because I’m not sure what else he would have done. We all know the Spanish media absolutely loves itself a nueva polémica.

From the Atlético perspective, Los Rojiblancos already have to deal with Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham - Vinícius Júnior - Kylian Mbappé trident at least twice a year for the foreseeable future. Nico and Lamine running at our wing-backs for the rest of the decade isn’t really a comforting thought, either.

But let’s go back to Morata, whose future was indeed clarified on Monday as he returned to Spain with his national teammates. Fabrizio Romano reported that Morata will inform Atlético of his intention to pay his €13 million release clause at LALIGA HQ in Madrid and seal a move back to Serie A. Morata will join AC Milan and his Italian wife, Alice Campello, will be happy to return home with their four children.

Marca has reported that as of Monday, Atlético “don’t know anything” about Morata’s departure, less than two weeks after he seemed to pledge his future to the club. But in spite of that “pledge,” Morata has often spoken about how unhappy he feels in Spain, despite serving as the national team’s captain and fostering a reputation as one of the game’s “good guys.”

Morata told El Mundo last week that he is “likely” to retire from the national team following Euro 2024, and — in comments that de la Fuente has echoed — he bemoaned the “lack of respect” he feels from Spanish fans and media. Atlético president Enrique Cerezo on Monday said that if Morata wants to leave, the club will not stand in his way. It seems that is how the 31-year-old is feeling at present.

I suppose from Morata’s point of view that winning the European Championship with Spain solidifies his legacy with the national team. His job here is done. Only three players — including former Atlético icons Fernando Torres and David Villa — have scored more goals for Spain than Morata has. He's now won the Euros, just like Torres and Villa did. He’s fed up with feeling “undervalued,” and he will keep going from team to team trying to find that elusive admiration.

That mentality, undoubtedly borne out of moving so frequently in his early 20s, must be a burden on Morata like we can’t imagine. If he isn’t happy in Madrid, then he shouldn't stay.

A quick shoutout to Argentina, which won a chaotic Copa América final inside Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night. There were some really, really awful scenes coming out of that stadium, which is slated to host seven matches at the 2026 World Cup. Blaming “ticketless fans” won’t be good enough to explain further security issues, should they arise during the FIFA-organized competition (they will).

But Argentina’s 1-0 extra-time win over Colombia saw the defending world champions also defend their Copa América crown, surviving Lionel Messi’s nasty ankle injury to win a match that featured a combined 10 shots on target and 26 combined fouls across 120 minutes. It means Rodrigo de Paul and Nahuel Molina have now won this competition twice, solidifying themselves as key members of this Argentina generation.

De Paul started five of Argentina’s six games and played the entirety of those five matches. He assisted Julián Álvarez’s goal against Canada in the semifinals, ran his socks off in the final, created nine chances over 480 minutes while impressively winning 11 fouls in that span. Molina started the semifinal and the final on the bench, but he showed great effort in the tackle (2.2 won per 90) on the way to winning his third international trophy.

A storyline I am watching closely this summer is how Atlético prepare for the coming season from a physical standpoint. Longtime fitness coach Óscar “El Profe” Ortega is gone, and his replacement is Luis Piñedo, elevated from Atlético B and completing a rise up the ranks that began when he joined the club in 2010.

Piñedo is already putting his stamp on the first team by tweaking parts of Ortega’s infamous pre-season regimen. According to Diario AS, Piñedo has done away with the three-session days at the team’s summer training complex in Los Angeles de San Rafael, as well as Ortega’s so-called “murder hill” exercise. He is assessing players’ aerobic and cardiovascular levels using the “beep test” — which requires players to run 20 meters (66 feet), back and forth, the time in between “beeps” getting shorter as the levels progress.

Atlético’s players have appeared burned out physically in recent years, an aging squad that struggled to juggle three competitions as each season has gone along. The club has made a lot of noise about a “rebuild” or a “revolution” in the playing squad entering 2024/25, and to be fair, chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil Marín and managing director Carlos Bucero have lightened the wage bill significantly with the departures of Memphis Depay, Mario Hermoso, and Saúl Ñíguez. Morata earns €13 million gross per year, and that too is set to come off the books. Stefan Savić could still leave as well — he has yet to rejoin the squad for preseason training as he negotiates a contract termination.

However, now the club has to actually replace all those players. The first preseason game is on July 27. The 2024/25 league season begins Aug. 15; Atlético’s curtain-raiser is at Villarreal on the 19th. With the international tournaments finished, Atleti are now in a race against the clock to build a new spine for Diego Simeone’s team, with zero new signings confirmed as of July 15 — but plenty of paper talk ahead.