Marc Guehi knows what it takes to defeat Spain in a tournament final. It was seven years ago at the Under-17 World Cup in India that Steve Cooper’s England side recovered from a two-goal deficit to triumph 5-2.
Guehi made it onto the scoresheet in that final along with Phil Foden, who scored twice. Meanwhile, Conor Gallagher was on the substitutes bench. All three are part of Gareth Southgate’s squad in Germany attempting to get the better of Spain again in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final.
Guehi, who is set to start in England’s three-man defence in Berlin with Foden expected to again be deployed as a No10, said that rewatching highlights from that final in 2017 brought back “very good memories”.
However, the centre-back, now aged 23, had also been part of the team that lost to Spain in the final of the Under-17 European Championship five months earlier. On that occasion Cooper’s side were pegged back to 2-2 after conceding a late equaliser and missed out on the title after losing 4-1 on penalties.
When the rivalry then resumed, Guehi rallied his team-mates with a passionate address, saying that they would not suffer at the hands of the Spanish for a second time. “Not again,” he is understood to have screamed.
“To be fair, it was all of us,” he said. “I remember coming down the tunnel and we had scored just before half-time [through Rhian Brewster] and their heads went down. I think it was just a moment for us to be vocal and to say, ‘We’ve got this. It’s not going to happen again.’
“It just showed the resilience of the team at the time to overcome such a tough moment, especially as kids, and then play the exact same team not so long later. To overcome that disappointment was amazing.
“Being used to tournament football has helped with being away from the family. Having had that experience when I was so young, has helped with not getting too homesick because you are used to it.
“In terms of football, there are definitely loads of little things that you can take from the losses, from the victories, things that have happened in games. It is going to be completely different come Sunday but it was still an amazing thing to look back on and I am grateful that I am here today.”
'We are embracing what's in front of us'
Guehi will face Spain in a final for the third time this weekend, and ahead of what will be the biggest game of the Crystal Palace defender’s life, he remains remarkably at ease with the prospect of making history.
England, featuring in back-to-back Euros finals, are in their first major final overseas and attempting to win their first piece of silverware since 1966.
Guehi has justified the faith that Southgate has shown in him; he missed the quarter-final victory over Switzerland through suspension and though Ezri Konsa performed admirably in his absence, was immediately recalled for the semi-final against the Netherlands.
England were beaten on penalties against Italy in the Euro 2020 final and Guehi detects a determination to atone among those who lost that day at Wembley.
“I was watching at home,” he said. “Just devastated like every single person, to come so close, tough feeling. I know these boys, every single one of them … but for the country as well it could be a moment of redemption.
“I would say, ‘Yes [there is a determination to put things right]’ but at the same time that chapter is gone, it is not something you can get back.
“There are definitely things, lessons, you can take and pick up on and try to apply here but that chapter is gone and it is [about] embracing what’s in front of you and this is another opportunity. A new opportunity to try and make history.”
Those silver and gold medals that Guehi claimed seven years ago are kept at his parents’ home and should England win in the Olympiastadion he will pass on his latest memento to go alongside them.
“I’ll give it to mum and dad, they’ll take care of it,” he added. “It’s more the memories for me that you can pass and share. That’s the most important thing.”
