Can an ever-improving England burst Spain’s aura of invincibility?

For ages, Spain and England embodied the contrasting philosophies of football. Short, intricate passing game pitched against long-ball hoofing trial and error, organised build-up meeting a kick-and-rush charge.

But over the years, with the influx of Spanish managers in the premier league — three of the top four teams last season were helmed by Spaniards — their worlds gravitated. Hence, viewing the Spain-England Euro final through the conventional prisms is counter-intuitive. Rather, at the heart of the encounter is a bigger and older debate that has piqued the deepest of its thinkers. READ MORE