Ahead of their semi-final, Gareth Southgate believes that while England’s football history isn’t as great as they like to believe, his side are breaking down barriers and have a chance to do great things. The Three Lions face Denmark in the semi-final at Euro 2020 and the winner will face Italy.
While many consider England to be a giant on the international stage, the Three Lions have struggled to replicate the hype with them never going beyond a semi-final at a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup. However, while they have made several semi-finals in the years since then, Gareth Southgate’s side are one win away from reaching their first European Championship final with a chance to lift their first Euros as well.
They’ll face Denmark in the semi-finals with the winner of the tie facing Italy in the final at Wembley, in front of almost 60,000 fans. However, it has seen Gareth Southgate praise his side as he believes that while England’s football history isn’t as great as they like to believe, this side has a chance to write themselves into the history books. He also added that the team are more than ready for the game and gained a lot of experience over the last few years, which will help them thrive.
“We don’t have as good a football history as we like to believe sometimes. These players are making massive strides. We’ve broken down barriers in this tournament and we have another opportunity to do that tomorrow,” Southgate said, reported the BBC.
“We have never been to a European Championship final so we can be the first England team to do that which is really exciting. We are ready for the game, the players are ready, they have got tremendous experience themselves having been in this situation before.
While few expected Denmark to be the team up against England in a semi-final, the Danes have become the fan favourite side especially after Christian Eriksen’s cardiac issues. But even then, they’ve gone above and beyond what anyone expected which saw Gareth Southgate admit that the pressure is on them to replicate their Euro 92 winning performance. The England boss further added that the win over Germany will prove key for as they dealt with the expectations well.
“Our preparations have been calm and we know we are playing a very good opponent. It’s going to be a really tight game and an exciting game for everybody. We have had expectation during the whole tournament and I think we dealt with that really well in the opening game, for example, and the game with Germany.
“But we have never been to a final so the pressure is whatever you choose it to be really. It’s a motivating thing, a challenge for us. If we were a country that had won five titles and had to match what had gone before then I might feel differently. But we’re not. Denmark have won it so maybe there is more pressure on them to replicate that,”