England manager Gareth Southgate has admitted that it is not enough for England just to get to the European Championships 2020, and end a 55-year run by always avoiding – they must also win it.
For the time being since 1966, an English men’s team will play in an international final when they face Italy at Wembley to finish what has been a fantastic Euro 2020 tournament.
The Three Lions have gone a step further than the 2018 World Cup when they gave in to Croatia in the semi-finals and have already achieved more than ever England’s team in the last 55 years, since Bobby Moore lifted the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley more than half a century ago .
“I know it’s not enough for me and the rest of the staff and for the players if we do not win it now,” Southgate told the Daily Telegraph.
“You get good messages that say ‘whatever happens now …’. But that’s not going to be the case on Monday. I understand the story, but it’s been about how we can continue to make progress, how we are driving this team so far. we think we can. ”
Southgate landed the England manager’s job in September 2016 after his predecessor Sam Allardyce was sacked due to an out-of-field scandal. Originally it was only a temporary position but he got a full-time contract after two months and continued to revolutionize the national team.
Many people were skeptical of his appointment. He had managed England for 21 years for the past three years and had been in charge when Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League in 2009, his only other head coaching role.
But Southgate has brought intelligence and humility to the job of England and has formed a group accordingly. The 2018 World Cup was like a cultural restoration and fans up and down the country fell in love with the national team again after more than a decade of apathy.
Southgate has helped England fall in love with their national team since 2018 / Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
What it means to be England is changing for the better … because of Southgate.
“What struck me about coming back from Russia (2018) were families who came to me on the street, people who came to me from all backgrounds in our country and said they felt they could go to a game now and not abused in the arena, contact the team. They felt part of it, he said.
“This inclusion is really important to us because I think that’s what modern England is. We know that this has not always been the case and there are historical reasons for this.
“But that level of tolerance and inclusion is what we need to be about moving forward … We have a view of what being English should represent and the standards we want to achieve.”
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