Gareth Southgate has described the overwhelming sense of pride he feels to have led England to a first major men’s final since 1966 as he promised to relish the wonderful opportunity that lies ahead.
England face Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley on Sunday, having beaten Denmark 2-1 after extra time in Wednesday’s semi-final – a victory that owed much to streetwise game management and the psychological freshness of the squad.
Southgate routinely deflects questions that attempt to paint him at the centre of the story but he did allow his emotions to show after the Denmark game when he clenched his fists and screamed at the England supporters behind one of the Wembley goals – as he had done following the last-16 penalty shootout win over Colombia at the 2018 Russia World Cup.
“To be able to hear Wembley like it was and to know how that will have been around the country is an honour,” Southgate said. “Because we’re a special country, we are historically an incredible country and I know I couldn’t be prouder to be an Englishman. I can’t be prouder to have the opportunity to lead my country so to bring happiness at this time where it’s been so difficult is a very special feeling.
“I’m not embarrassed about losing my head a little bit in that moment [after the match]. Once you step off the pitch you know you’re into preparing for the next game and everything that goes with that so to be able to have that moment on the pitch with the fans is for me always the most special part.”
England offered the latest illustration of how they have progressed since the last World Cup when they shut down the second period of extra time, prioritising the retention of possession, albeit with Denmark down to 10 men because of injury. Southgate, who swapped the attack-minded substitute Jack Grealish for the wing-back Kieran Trippier, and switched from 4-2-3-1 to 3-4-3, had seen his team lose 2-1 to Croatia in the World Cup semi-final, having led 1-0.
“The players have learned a lot over the last three or four years, we talked to them about that [running down the clock],” Southgate said. “We used to talk to the under-21s about that – it was one of the biggest areas we had to improve upon – and we still can be better at it. But the players had worked it out and they did that really well. We have got the technicians to be able to do it.”
In tournament failures gone by, the physical strain of gruelling Premier League seasons has been cited as an excuse but England were full of running throughout against Denmark. Southgate made the point that he and his staff “can’t improve the players physically so we don’t over-train and we keep that freshness”. But they have worked hard to stimulate them mentally, with all manner of downtime distractions, for example, at their St George’s Park HQ, from a golf simulator to the swimming pool with inflatable unicorns.
“We felt that the environment we wanted to create needed to be one that refreshed the players, that allowed them to enjoy their downtime, that gave them some freedom,” Southgate said. “You can talk about fatigue, you can talk about the season, but to get the physical training right and to get the psychological freshness right is key to creating the energy that is needed.”
Italy beat Spain on penalties in their Wembley semi-final on Tuesday, meaning they have had an extra 24 hours to prepare. “It is definitely a bit of a disadvantage but we have to find the best way of dealing with that,” Southgate said. “Italy’s record is phenomenal – 10 finals. We’ve got a huge task ahead of us but one that we’ll take on with relish.
“What Roberto [Mancini] has done and the way Italy have played in the last couple of years … it speaks for itself in terms of the wins, the small number of goals conceded. The style of play has been exceptional.
“To get to a semi-final in Russia was probably ahead of where we expected. To get to a final now, it’s hard to say. That was our aim, for sure. You’re never quite certain how things are going to play out when we had so many issues to deal with at the start. But we are there and we now have a wonderful opportunity.”
