A Howrah couple cheered for Spain from the stands of the Allianz Arena in Munich on Wednesday.

“Their youthfulness and flair have given football fans so much happiness,” said Prasenjit Sen, a businessman.

“The stands were divided. Two in three people wore jerseys of one team or the other. The stadium was a riot of colours,” said Sampa, Sen’s wife.

A pitch-perfect assist from France’s talismanic skipper, Kylian Mbappe, found Randal Kolo Muani who scored the opening goal in the ninth minute. Sen and his wife were behind the French goalkeeper. “The goal was scored at the other end of the ground. I could not see it that well. The noise level, however, shot past the roof,” Sen said.

The most cherished moment for Sen came in the 21st minute when a brilliant left-footer from the 16-year-old wonder-kid, Lamine Yamal, put Spain on the scoreboard. His seat then felt a godsent.

“I got a great view of the goal. It is a lifetime experience. The way the ball swerved in shows how good a player Yamal is,” said Sen, who also watched a couple of knockout matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

If Kolo Muani’s goal pumped up the stadium, Yamal’s strike left them in awe, as if cast by a spell,Sen felt.

Minutes later, the Spanish fans strained their vocal cords again as Dani Olmo deftly found the net to put his team in front, a lead they held to till the end.

“By now, it felt that a red wave had taken over the stadium,” said Sampa.

En route the stadium, Sen had got his cheeks painted in Spanish colours.

“We have put up at a hotel near the city centre. We stepped out of the hotel and took a Metro to the stadium. It felt that the entire train was headed to the stadium,” he added.