After England’s dramatic entry into the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, manager Gareth Southgate said in an interview that fans like to live in the past, with the underperforming Euro 96 seeming to be a happy memory, while overlooking that the current England team can still rewrite the fans’ future memories.
In the 1996 European Championship, England, as the host, didn’t start well, drawing 1-1 against Switzerland. While they later went on to beat the Netherlands 4-1, securing their spot in the knockout stage. They then narrowly defeated Spain in the quarter-finals, but were eliminated by Germany in the semi-finals. However, in the memories of British fans, the 1996 European Championship seems to be a classic.
Southgate, who participated in the 1996 European Championship, said while reminiscing, “Everyone now expresses it in different ways, but we really didn’t perform well in that tournament.”
Speaking about this European Championship, Southgate said the team is still progressing, “The most outstanding player (Bellingham) has changed the course of things in his own way, and that’s given us another opportunity.”
On their upcoming opponents Switzerland, Southgate remained cautious, “They have been consistently good, they have a very good rotation, and once they take the lead, they are very difficult to beat. They have good defenders and fast forwards.”
Furthermore, Southgate stated that England has enough rotation in the squad, “A lot of substitutes are contributing to the team, waiting for their chance to come on, we’ll find the best combination, and what we can be sure of without question is the team’s unity.”
Despite continuous criticism from the outside, according to reports, the England squad is extremely united internally, with all the players backing Southgate. Jordan Pickford stated, “The fans want us to win, and we want to win more. But I’d say that no game is easy, you have to be patient, we’re enjoying ourselves right now, we need to stay positive.”
When asked about the possibility of facing Switzerland in a penalty shootout, Pickford said, although the coach hasn’t yet made any arrangements, he will practice penalty saves, “If you want to win trophies, extra time and penalty shootouts are part and parcel of the game.”
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