When England play Serbia on Sunday to begin their Euro 2024 campaign, manager Gareth Southgate says his team needs to be “exceptional” in order to break a 58-year major tournament title drought.
As Southgate looks to finally lead a very gifted generation to triumph, the Three Lions must deal with the pressure of being hailed as one of the tournament favorites.
After losing to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley, England is looking to right the wrongs.
They have also nearly won two World Cups under Southgate’s leadership, and the England manager has admitted that this may be his last chance to win a significant tournament.
“This competition features several strong teams. During his pre-match press conference, Southgate stated, “We have to be exceptional to progress through the group and have the opportunity to go further.”
“We are concentrating on getting into the group. You have to take things one step at a time when attempting to accomplish extraordinary things.
“Our first priority is to get through the group and work from there.”
Harry Kane, the captain of England, has an incredible goal scoring record at both club and international levels, but he has never taken home a major award.
“To win a national championship would be the ultimate goal for any professional player,” stated Kane, who scored 44 goals in his first season at Bayern Munich.
“Although that hasn’t fully happened yet, it increases my hunger and will to go out and accomplish it, beginning this summer.
“We have the opportunity to go out and do that and I’m looking forward to trying to make that happen.”
England are expected to cruise through Group C, which also contains Denmark and Slovenia.
Mitrovic threat
There is little for Southgate to fear based on Serbia’s performance in qualifying.
Dragan Stojkovic’s side won just four of their eight qualifiers, losing twice to Hungary and were held on both occasions by Bulgaria.
However, they have a striker in form in Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is well known to Premier League fans from his eight years in England with Newcastle and Fulham.
Since joining Saudi team Al Hilal, Mitrovic has scored 40 goals in 43 games, leading them to an undefeated domestic triple.
“He’s an incredible goal scorer,” Southgate remarked. “We have to be ready to deal with some exceptional players across the pitch.”
Although Serbia’s coach Stojkovic is aware of the difficulty his team faces, he insisted that once play begins, England must live up to their pre-tournament hype.
What Stojkovic wants to see from England is “the team that tries to be the champion of Europe,” he stated.
“They must perform it on the field. You can make all kinds of predictions and say whatever you want, but in order to prove yourself, you must perform on the field.”
Leave a Reply