‘Finals are to be won’: Level-headed Gareth Southgate calls on his England heroes to finish the job against Italy after putting semi-final heartache behind them – as he praises ‘incredible’ fans inside Wembley contributing to ‘amazing night’
Gareth Southgate believes his heroes have exorcised the demons of the heartbreaking World Cup 2018 semi-final loss to Croatia after reaching their first major final in 55 years on a euphoric Wembley night.
The Three Lions will play Italy in the European Championship final on Sunday after Harry Kane slammed home his own missed penalty in extra time to send the nation into raptures and dump Denmark out of the competition.
Having lost to Croatia in Russia at the same stage three years ago – Wednesday night laid to rest the ghosts of that agonising night in Moscow.
Gareth Southgate told his England players that ‘finals are to be won’ after they beat Denmark
‘The most pleasing thing is that we’ve given our fans and our nation another amazing night, and the journey carries on for another four days,’ said Southgate.
‘In terms of the team, to come through that sort of night, we’ve suffered in Moscow on a night like this, and we’ve managed to put that right.
‘I’m so proud of the players, an incredible occasion to be a part of. The fans were incredible all night, we knew it wouldn’t be straight forward.
Harry Kane netted the winner as the Three Lions brought an end to their semi-final heartbreak
‘I thought we would get there, but I thought we’d have different sorts of (challenges). Denmark are so underrated as a team, they caused us some problems, when you’ve waited as long as we have to get through a semi-final, the players when you consider their limited experience internationally, they’ve done an incredible job.
The final whistle sparked bedlam on the pitch and in the stands on what was one of the most emotional nights in English football history.
But while Southgate believes his team deserved their celebrations, he fired a warning to his team, saying: ‘It looked like mayhem on the pitch to me and I was part of it.
‘Look, we’re in the final and we have to enjoy that fact. But there’s one final hurdle we have to conquer.’
England’s heroes will take on Italy next on Sunday but Southgate is remaining level-headed
On the the prospect of defeating Italy in the final, Southgate added: ‘Finals are to be won, we’ve got to regroup, prepare properly, tonight has taken a lot physically and emotionally.
‘Italy had that last night, so they’ve had an extra day to recover, we’ll think about [the game] on the way home.
‘They’re a very good side, I’ve thought that for the last couple of years. They’ve shown fantastic form, they’ve got defensive warriors at the back who have been through everything, it’s a great game to look forward to.
‘I think we’ve had three memorable games on the bounce now. We’ve said we want to create memories for the nation.’