James Trafford pulled off a remarkable double save for England, saving a last-minute penalty, as his country won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final.

Who won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship?

Coming up against Spain in the last stage of the youth competition, the young Three Lions claimed a narrow 1-0 victory at the Batumi Arena in Georgia on Saturday evening.

England took the lead on the cusp of halftime when Cole Palmer’s free-kick deflected off Curtis Jones and found the back of the net – technically going down as a goal for the Liverpool midfielder.

Lee Carsley’s men were yet to concede going into the final, and so if they could maintain that record, they would win the whole tournament.

However, in the sixth minute of injury time, after a check from VAR, Chelsea’s Levi Colwill was adjudged to have fouled Abel Ruiz inside the box.

The Spanish captain who’d won the penalty stepped up to take it but his effort was brilliantly saved by Manchester City starlet Trafford who guessed the right way.

The drama wasn’t over yet, though, as the England goalkeeper then had to get up to save the rebound before the ball was eventually blasted over the bar.

With that crucial intervention, Trafford had not only kept a clean sheet in the game, but it also meant he’d won the tournament for England without conceding once throughout the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

You can see the footage below via Channel 4 Sport.

Of course, that wasn’t the only drama on the day as former Chelsea man Ashley Cole managed to get himself sent off on the sidelines after clashing with the Spanish bent in the aftermath of Curtis Jones’ first-half goal. While Morgan Gibbs-White was also handed a second yellow card right at the end of the match.

In the end, though, the England players and staff won’t care one bit as they’ll get to celebrate wildly tonight having secured this great achievement.

Who is James Trafford?

Interestingly enough, Trafford’s name has been in the news a fair bit of late. After all, the Manchester City goalkeeper looks set to complete a move to Burnley this summer for £19m.

The 20-year-old was loaned out to Accrington Stanley in the first half of the 2021/22 season before switching to Bolton Wanderers for the second half of the campaign, he then spent the most recent campaign at the same club and has clearly done enough to impress with Bolton to all but secure a big money move to Burnley.

Some may have felt that that fee of nearly £20m is an awful lot to pay for a goalkeeper who has yet to actually play a senior game for Man City, but after this miraculous late double save, some may now think it’s a bit of a bargain.

Of course, you can’t forget that he also didn’t concede a single goal throughout the whole UEFA European Under-21 Championship, so it’s fair to say this has been a great tournament to help enhance his reputation.

Understandably, fans were blown away by the moment of high drama and praised the 20-year-old. Here are some of the best reactions on Twitter.