Gareth Southgate: England Dreams of Euro 2024 Glory

Gareth Southgate is ready to lead England into the Euro 2024 final against Spain, emphasizing his belief in dreams over fairytales. England aims to end their trophy drought since the 1966 World Cup. Reflecting on his own experience as a player at Euro 1996 where he missed a crucial penalty, Southgate remarked, “We have had big dreams… but you have to make those things happen.”

Furthermore, Southgate wants his players to be fearless and learn from their past setbacks including the penalty loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final and the quarter-final exit against France at the 2022 World Cup. England’s path to the final saw them narrowly escape elimination against Slovakia, overcome Switzerland on penalties, and come from behind to defeat the Netherlands.

Additionally, Harry Kane, England’s captain, highlighted the extra motivation from their previous defeats. “It would mean everything [to win],” he said. “There’s extra hunger and fire in our belly to make sure this one goes our way.” Kane, who has yet to win a team trophy, stated he would trade all his individual accolades for victory against Spain, adding, “I’m extremely proud to be English.”

Moreover, under Gareth Southgate, England has reached consecutive European Championship finals, the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the quarter-finals in Qatar. He believes the team now needs to win Euro 2024 to earn the respect of the footballing world. “We had high expectations but they didn’t match where we were performance-wise. Now… we know we have to do this one, to get this trophy,” Southgate said.

Meanwhile, Spain, undefeated at Euro 2024 are formidable but coach Luis de la Fuente dismissed any clear favorite. “We know there is no favourite… it is a very, very equal game,” he stated, emphasizing the need for focus and top-level performance to win.