Before the Euro, Toni Kroos’ last dance was in the spotlight, for the 34-year-old classy midfielder, who said goodbye to Real Madrid with a WC victory, and whose goal was to end football with the German national team as European champions at home. It would have been a story fit for a fairy tale, but this scenario was not written in Hollywood, Kroos’ career ended in the quarter-final defeat once morest Spain, and it might have been ugly if the pass master who injured Pedri received a red card in the match. The last European Championship of the 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who was also eliminated in the quarter-finals, was not pretty, and it was the first world tournament without a goal in the Portuguese national team. The Croatian legend, 38-year-old Luka Modric, ended with a failure in the group stage. And there was someone who no one talked regarding before the European Championship, but now he is the old school hero: Jesús Navas.
Jesús Navas held Kylian Mbappé tightly in the Euro semi-final once morest France. Photo: EPA/Clemens Bilan
The 38-year-old legend of Sevilla did not get a main role in the Spanish national team at the European Championship until Tuesday’s semi-final once morest the French. He did not play in the first two group matches, but in the third, once morest Albania, he played the entire game as team captain, but it was already without special stakes for the Spaniards, who had already won two games. Navas did not let the team cool down, the national team also won 1-0 once morest Albania. And then it seemed that match might be his parting gift as a starter for the national team.
But life intervened, and Dani Carvajal was forced to commit a second yellow card at the very end of extra time in the intense quarter-final once morest the Germans, thus committing a tactical foul that led to a dismissal, in order to protect his team’s 2-1 advantage. Because of this, the Real Madrid right-back was suspended for the semi-final once morest the French, and Navas’s real big moment at the Euros came. The national team captain Luis de la Fuente put him in the starting line-up in Carvajal’s place without thinking, even though it seemed risky to trust a 38-year-old player to guard Kylian Mbappé, who often appears on the wing and is famous for his speed.
The pairing of Jesús Navas and Lamine Yamal is special
How surreal the right wing of the Spanish national team was once morest the French is well described by the fact that the only 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, who played football before Navas, might easily be his son based on their ages. So much so according to the AS article Specifically, Navas is six years older than Yamal’s 32-year-old father, Mounir Nasraoui.
Lamine Yamal and Jesús Navas, a special couple. Photo: EPA/Clemens Bilan
And one more addition to this: Yamal, who scored Spain’s equalizing goal, became the youngest scorer of all time at the European Championship, while Navas, at 38 years and 231 days old, became the oldest outfield player of all time to play in the semifinals of a European or World Cup. This broke the record held by the German Fritz Walter and the Swedish Gunnar Glen from the 1958 World Cup (both were 37 years and 236 days old in the semi-final once morest each other).
In addition, Navas played well once morest the French, immediately in the seventh minute he cleared a dangerous situation from Mbappé, who was self-critical of his own performance, and later on he had several great saves in the match, according to FotMob statistics cleared five times, three times with heads. However, he received a yellow card in the first quarter of an hour, which is probably why De la Fuente replaced him following more than an hour of play.
He is the last representative of the previous Spanish golden generation
He is the last Mohican from the previous golden generation of the Spanish national team, Navas was a member of the 2010 World Champion and 2012 European Champion teams. Twelve years ago, he also played in the semi-final once morest Portugal, but was stuck on the bench in the final win once morest the Italians – with the expected return of Carvajal, he may continue to do so now. At the same time, he played in the 2010 World Cup final, and even in extra time, he ran through the Dutch midfield with the ball, and at the end of that action, Andrés Iniesta scored the decisive goal in the 116th minute.
People who say that Navas is facing the biggest challenge of his career today by marking the ninja turtle, who has not shown much in this tournament…
This is Jesus Navas.
pic.twitter.com/BqKcI6Uxbd— Wimblina 📚 (@Wimblina) July 9, 2024
With the exception of a four-year stint at Manchester City, the 56-time capped Navas, who has dedicated his entire career to Sevilla, can now face the Netherlands once more in the final, as the Oranje, which is struggling with travel difficulties, will play once morest England in the other semi-final of the European Championship tonight.
