As Spain's substitutes streamed onto the pitch and their backroom staff swallowed up Luis de la Fuente, Gareth Southgate stood stock still, hands on hips, briefly completely alone on the edge of his technical area.
After a beat, Southgate composed himself, first congratulating De la Fuente before taking a slow, purposeful walk around the pitch to begin consoling his broken players. He thanked the officials and fulfilled his media duties, saying it was not the time to discuss his future, before returning to stand sentinel in front of his squad to await the presentations, hands in pockets, distinctive in his now-familiar white polo shirt.
Watching Spain's celebrations must have been as painful for Southgate as anyone connected with England; most of his players, with one or two exceptions, will have further opportunities with their country, but a second consecutive European Championship Final defeat might be Southgate's last stand. He was today considering his future.
Southgate will question if he has taken England as far as he can; whether it is time to step aside and leave another manager to the job of building on his foundations and finally dragging the team over the line to a first trophy in what will be 60 years by the World Cup in 2026.
If he agrees to stay on, in time Southgate will review another painful defeat searching for lessons, hoping it is another stepping stone to future success. He might conclude that his dysfunctional but resilient England side simply ran out of miracles here, their remarkable powers of recovery finally reaching a limit against Spain, who deservedly won through Mikel Oyarzabal 86th-minute goal to become the first team to win four Euros.
It is one thing to come from behind against Slovakia, Switzerland and Holland, but quite another against Spain.
Not attacking until they were a goal down was a theme of England's tournament; they equalised in every knockout game, underlining their character and grit, but relying on stirring comebacks and bolts from the blue was never going to be sustainable indefinitely.
Spain are the masters of keeping the ball and, predictably, England were undone by their age-old possession problem, a factor in their previous near-misses under Southgate.
From the moment Jordan Pickford launched the ball directly out of play from kick-off, England struggled for control, and a gruelling tournament began to take its toll as they chased shadows in the second half.
When finding a way to win is all a team has got, there is nothing to fall back on when eventually they come up short
As Southgate pointed out, Spain were the better side on the night and comfortably the team of the tournament. It is important, however, not to rewrite history here: no one considered this a generational Spain squad before the finals and they were only the standout team because the other contenders, including England, underwhelmed.
Southgate's side went into the match as underdogs not because they had inferior players, but because the evidence of the previous four weeks was obvious: England were hard to beat and capable of producing big moments, but plainly less than the sum of their parts.
Spain were the opposite: a collection of good players moulded into an outstanding unit by an ingrained national philosophy and a canny coach. They finished the game without their first-choice midfield — Gavi not fit enough for the squad, Pedri injured in game two, Rodri forced off at half-time through injury.
If England had played to their potential during the tournament, they might have been narrow favourites, as the more experienced team, steeled from their defeat to Italy three years ago and led by last season's standout players in each of the English, Spanish and German top flights. As it was, Spain scored at the start of the second half and never really looked like losing, even after substitute Cole Palmer equalised with the latest in a series of magnificent England goals at the tournament.
You wonder now how much Rodri's surprise departure at the interval was playing on England's minds when Nico Williams broke the deadlock.
Spain's enforcer, who had already snuffed out half-chances for Declan Rice and Harry Kane, was replaced by Martin Zubimendi after a cagey first half.
Was this England's chance? Within two minutes, Spain were ahead, Lamine Yamal finally escaping Luke Shaw to drive inside and find Williams, who finished low across Pickford.
Spain missed opportunities to add to their lead, Pickford saving from Yamal (which the goalkeeper did again at 1-1), increasing the sense that England would have a moment.
It came at the end of a rapid counter-attack, Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham combining to set up Palmer, who had only been on the pitch for three minutes. It was another inspired change from Southgate, who must then have sensed a chance to turn the screw.
It was a chance England wasted, however, and it was hard to escape the feeling that Southgate's hesitance cost his side.
England struggled for control, and a gruelling tournament took its toll as they chased shadows in the second half
The equaliser had come too early, with 17 minutes plus stoppages still to play, and England appeared unsure whether to go for the jugular or dig in.
They began to fray, desperately in need of fresh legs. Conor Gallagher and Kieran Trippier were ready when Marc Cucurella escaped down the left, Kyle Walker dragged out of position again, and crossed low for Oyarzabal, who was onside by centimetres.
Small margins, but there are big questions for Southgate on Monday morning.
His decision to persist with captain Kane, who was clearly unfit and was replaced by semi-final hero Ollie Wakins on the hour, might have cost England, while the manager's use of the squad deserves scrutiny after he admitted fatigue was a factor in Spain's late winner.
Too many players, among them Palmer, Watkins, Anthony Gordon and perhaps Trent Alexander-Arnold, felt underused in Germany.
Southgate came into this tournament without a coherent plan, yet managed to find enough rhythm to exploit the kinder half of the knockout draw.
In the end, though, England managed maybe two impressive halves of football in seven games and, for all their spirit, rarely looked well-coached.
Again, there is a danger of rewriting history, of working backwards from last night's result to claim England came up short against the first top team they played. That is a disservice to Switzerland and Holland, who were both talked up before being sent home, but in the cold light of this morning, England's tournament still feels like a disappointment.
As England fans filed out of the Olympiastadion into the Berlin night, there seemed little consolation in this heartbreak, which felt less like a stepping stone than the defeats to Croatia, Italy or France in Qatar.
And that is the problem with the way England played. When finding a way to win is all a team has got, there is nothing to fall back on when eventually they come up short.
