"I've broken a lot of records, but they don't mean anything if I don't have a title. The team needs to win the EURO final to be respected by the world," coach Gareth Southgate said at a press conference before the match against Spain. He took over the hot seat at England in 2016, hoping to bring the team its first title since the 66th World Cup. After 8 years, Southgate has not done this, but has brought positive signs to the Three Lions with 2 EURO finals and 1 World Cup semi-final. Mr. Southgate said: "We tried to change the way of thinking from the beginning. We were honest with each other about the position of the team. When I was not a coach, I opened the tapes, watched the cup lifting of the countries, but England never appeared in the footage. That's when I realized the team needed to change."

Gareth Southgate is the first manager in English football history to help the national team reach two finals at major tournaments. He has a quality squad of players, better than those who played in the final at Wembley three years ago. However, this is also a difficult problem according to the 53-year-old coach. "We try to find a balance between the attacking players. They have huge potential, but tend to operate in the same position. We try to find that balance in every match. In the semi-final, the image of the Three Lions in the eyes of the opponents is more dangerous than ever. We just keep scoring and scoring, and finally we are in the final," said coach Southgate. Throughout the tournament, the 53-year-old strategist made many improvements in the way he played. First of all, in terms of personnel. He removed Trent Alexander-Arnold from the midfield, using Kobbie Mainoo to play alongside Declan Rice. Since his performance in the final match of Group C, the young Man Utd star has started every match for the Three Lions.

Next is the lineup. It is not wrong to say that coach Southgate "hid his cards", because he waited until the semi-finals to show the team's best football, for the first time in many years. Southgate's 3-4-2-1 formation stifled the Netherlands. His students controlled the ball more, had more shots and dominated the midfield. Ollie Watkins' goal, although having a 6% success rate, was a worthy result for the Three Lions' efforts. In addition to technical issues, coach Southgate also mentioned luck in penalty shootouts. When he was playing for the national team, he was the one who missed the decisive penalty against Germany, causing England to be eliminated in the semi-finals of EURO 1996. This year, Southgate has a chance to redeem himself, right on Die Mannschaft's home field.

"I don't believe in fairy tales. I believe in dreams. We all dream big, but at some point you have to wake up and make them come true. Of course, if England win in the penalty shootout, there will be a lot to say, but I prefer the performance in 90 or 120 minutes. We have learned how to win big matches. Tomorrow, I need the players to be fearless. The winning rate is always higher if we are not afraid of losing," said coach Southgate. The EURO 2024 final between England and Spain takes place at 2am on July 15 (Vietnam time), at Olympiastadion (Berlin).

Vtcnews.vn

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