The Three Lions coach believes his players need to be “exceptional with the ball and exceptional without it” in the Euro final
Head coach England national team Gareth Southgate — about the historic achievement for himself and his team, as well as about the upcoming final Euro 2024 against Spain.
“I am very proud to have led England to their first overseas final. Now we want to beat Spain, who were the best team in the tournament. It will not be easy.”
“I don’t think we deserved to go down today. I thought we had great possession all night. I was really pleased with the quality of my team’s performance. I’m not sure England have ever had 60 per cent of the ball against the Netherlands.”
“We give people amazing nights. We have given our fans some of the best nights in the last 50 years. I am very proud of that. I am happy if everyone at home feels the same as we did and those who were in the stadium. But we are not finished yet. I am the one who has to choose the team to give them a night as special as this one.”
“A final against Spain? We have to take the ball away from them first! They press very well, so we have to be exceptional with the ball and exceptional without it. But it’s a final, you expect it.”
“When I came into this job I had two years as a Premier League manager; now I have over 100 international games under my belt and I have learnt a lot. Every experience you go through helps you learn. The last final was our first at the Euros; we didn’t do everything right, but we will try to do better this time.”
Let us recall that England reached their second consecutive European Championship final thanks to a strong-willed victory over the Netherlands (2:1). In the final, Southgate’s team will play Spain, which defeated France (2:1) the day before. The decisive match of the 2024 European Championship will be held on July 14 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The starting whistle will sound at 22:00 Kyiv time.
The Three Lions have never won the European Championship before. The closest England came was three years ago, when they lost to Italy on penalties at Wembley.
England played both of their previous major tournament finals (the 1966 World Cup and the 2020 European Championship) at home. The Berlin Euro final will be the first to be played abroad.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
