A summer to remember for Spain and its football. It started with Real Madrid’s 15th European Cup triumph, then the European Championship success in Germany and now, on Friday, Spain capped it off with an Olympic gold in men’s football.

The last time Spain won gold in any team sport at the Olympic Games was in men’s water polo at the Atlanta Games in 1996. The only player on the field on Friday born before that was France captain Alexandre Lacazette. The 5-3 win after extra-time — after France rallied from 3-1 down to make it 3-3 in the third minute of the second half injury-time — reinforced the domination of the Spanish teams.

The women are the reigning World Cup winners. Spain are also the reigning champions in both the men’s and women’s Nations League, as well Under-19 European Championships for both teams. Football is rocking in Spain.

Pau Cubarsi, the Barcelona central defender, is now the youngest footballer ever to win a gold medal. The 17-year-old gives the impression as if he has 100 matches under his belt.

Fermin Lopez is Cubarsi’s 21-year-old clubmate whose brace and runs made life difficult for Thierry Henry’s men. Or the two-goal super-sub hero Sergio Camello, or the exceptionally tenacious Sergio Gomez... Spain had many princes at the Parc de Princess on Friday.

It was also Spain’s first football gold since they triumphed in the 1992 Barcelona Games. Incidentally, Barca had their first Champions League triumph that summer too.

Spain did not bring the highly talented Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams to Paris. They had brought Pedri to Tokyo where they won the silver and the then 18-year-old, after playing more than 70 matches that season, struggled to stay fit in the last three seasons.

They have also done away the tiki-taka mould which gave them a World Cup (2010) and two Euros (2008, 2012), but consistent failures till Euro 2024 happened. The world saw how Luis de la Fuente, a Basque, made a bunch of tough nuts seamlessly find each other on the field.

In Paris also it was the same. In the final, Arnau Tenas, the goalkeeper who learnt the ropes at Barcelona’s La Masia academy and now turns up for PSG, had a horrendous howler which gave France an early lead. But he recovered brilliantly and made some out-of-the-world saves to thwart France.

Like Tenas, Spain also did not get rattled by the early goal and in no time they were 3-1 up with a brace by Fermin Lopez and Alex Baena’s superb free-kick. France were left to chase shadows as Henry could only watch from the sidelines.

“It is something beautiful, but above all, I’m happy for the players, for the way they achieved this win,” Spain coach Santi Denia said. “It was an amazing match against a high-level French team. I’m proud also of the model of play we represent.”

Friday’s was the highest-scoring men’s football gold medal match since 1912.

With the World Cup in just two years, Spain can dream of greater things. With the talent they have at their disposal right now, they will be clearly one of the favourites for the World Cup.