Gareth Southgate believes England must win Euro 2024 on Sunday if they are to earn “the respect of the footballing world”.
The Three Lions face Spain in the tournament’s climax at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, aiming to land only the second major silverware of their history – 58 years after their World Cup triumph on home soil.
Runners-up to Italy at the delayed Euro 2020, England are only the fourth different nation to appear in successive European Championship finals – along with Spain, Germany and the Soviet Union.
Southgate, who has led his nation to their first major tournament final on foreign soil, has also guided them to the 2018 semi-finals and 2022 quarter-finals at the two World Cups he has overseen.
And the Three Lions head coach acknowledges all that is missing is a trophy.
“We tried to change the mindset from the start,” he told reporters during his pre-match press conference. “We tried to be more honest about where we were as a football nation.
“I’ve travelled to World Cups, European Championships watching as an observer and watched highlight reels of matches on the big screens – and we weren’t in any of them.
“We needed to change that. We had high expectations, but they didn’t match where we were performance-wise. Now, the high expectations are still there, but we’ve had consistent performances, certainly over three of the last four tournaments and a quarter-final in the fourth.
“In the end, you have to be in the latter stages of tournaments to learn how to win the big games. A lot of records we have broken, but we know we have to do this one, to get this trophy to really feel the respect of the footballing world.”
Checking out the #EURO2024 final venue: Olympiastadion Berlin!pic.twitter.com/sfcUU9Ugz3
— England (@England) July 13, 2024
England endured an underwhelming start in Germany, topping Group C despite winning just one of their three games and scoring just two goals.
Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time strike and Harry Kane’s extra-time header rescued them in their last-16 tie against Slovakia, while a penalty shootout was required to see off Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Southgate switched from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 3-4-3 in the latter contest, and stuck with that in the semi-finals, where England produced their best performance of the tournament as they saw off the Netherlands thanks to Ollie Watkins’ last-gasp winner.
“We’ve had to find a different way of playing as the tournament progressed,” the Three Lions head coach added.
“We’ve been trying to find the right blend and balance for our attacking players because we’ve got super talent, but a lot who like to operate in similar areas.
“We feel we’ve started to find that balance. We’ve looked dangerous, like we could score goals again, and I’m happy with where the team were at going into this game.”
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