England’s Euro 2020 campaign must be considered a ‘FAILURE’ if they go out to Germany in the last-16, insists Glenn Hoddle, as former Three Lions boss warns Gareth Southgate Tuesday’s clash is ‘like a semi-final’
England’s Euro 2020 campaign will go down as a failure should they fail to get past Germany on Tuesday evening.
That is the opinion of one former Three Lions boss, who believes there has rarely been a better time to face Joachim Low’s side in a major competition.
England have looked solid defensively so far during the delayed tournament, keeping three clean sheets in the group stages of a major tournament for the first time since 1966.
Gareth Southgate has been warned that not beating Germany on Tuesday would be a ‘failure’
Germany, on the other hand, required a late equaliser against unfancied Hungary to secure their spot in the knockout rounds, and did not convince against France – although their performance against Portugal should cause Tuesday’s hosts some concern.
Glenn Hoddle took England to the last-16 of the World Cup in 1998, where they were beaten on penalties by Argentina.
And a similar failure at this tournament, were England have been granted home advantage in all of their matches to date, should not be considered good enough, according to the former Chelsea and Tottenham midfielder.
‘I think it would be a failure if we don’t beat Germany,’ Hoddle told Betfair, as per Goal.
Germany scraped through to the knockout stages thanks to a late equaliser against Hungary
‘The way this German side have qualified, the way they’ve just sneaked through, they’re changing the guard with a new manager coming and it’s a good time to play them.
‘We’re playing at Wembley. We can’t ask for much more. We’re slightly favourites going into this game – we haven’t conceded a goal and they conceded two against Hungary. Yes, they came back and they’ve got that German spirit. We’ve got to be shading it as favourites at this moment in time.’
Ahead of the tournament, Germany confirmed that Joachim Low’s reign as head coach will come to an end following its conclusion, with former Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick ready to step in and take charge.
Even ahead of the tournament, Germany appeared to be heading in the wrong direction, with a defeat to North Macedonia in their World Cup qualifying group turning heads.
Former England head coach Glenn Hoddle believes Southgate’s side have a great chance
Despite that, they are still one of the most feared sides in the competition and the most distinguished opponents left on England’s side of the draw.
It is for that reason Hoddle believes victory on Tuesday should fill England with the confidence they need to reach their first ever European Championship final.
‘I don’t think it’s as good as the German teams that we’ve seen of yesteryear, although there’s been spells where they’ve turned it on and they came back well against Hungary,’ he added.
‘They’ve definitely got a little weakness in them – they haven’t quite got that arrogance, that flow, that belief yet, but they did come back like typical Germans.
‘I’m adamant that there’s more to come from England. We’re going to grow in the tournament and looking at the draw, this is like a semi-final.’
Hoddle believes victory over Germany gives England a great chance of reaching the final