“I took this job to try and improve English football” : Gareth Southgate wants to create history after reaching Euro semifinals
England escape another scare in the quarterfinals, as they defeated Switzerland on penalties to reach the last four. The Three Lions fell behind in the second half, however, Bukayo Saka’s exquisite finish leveled the scores. England held their nerves in the penalty shootout, as they will now face the Netherlands for a place in their second consecutive Euro finals.
England manager Gareth Southgate has faced a lot of criticism over the past couple of weeks for the brand of football his team have played. Labelled as ‘boring’ football, Gareth Southgate and his team have been under tremendous pressure during the tournament.
This is the third major semifinal England have reached under Gareth Southgate. He stated that he decided to manage the team back in the last decade to improve the state of English football.
“Every now and then surely there has to be some enjoyment in this job,” said the England manager. “I love the players and sharing that moment with them. I can’t deny that when it’s [the criticism] as personal as it has been in the last few weeks on a human level, that’s quite difficult,” Southgate said, as quoted by the BBC.
“I took this job to try and improve English football, to give us nights like this. We continue to give people fantastic memories. We will keep enjoying this journey,” said Southgate.
England hang on to reach second consecutive Euro semifinals
Gareth Southgate wants to create history, as he wants his team to become the first English side to reach a major final outside their home, and win the country’s first ever Euros. The Three Lions reached the finals of the Euros last time around, where they were defeated on penalties by Italy.
“Now we want to deliver one more thing – we have never been to a final outside England, never won a Euros, so there are two bits of history we would love to create,” he said.
Gareth Southgate also stated that his side has the resilience to thrive under pressure, as has been demonstrated by the likes of some European nations over the past couple of decades. “We haven’t always got it right but in general we have shown the resilience that teams that win tournaments have had for years – Italy, France, Spain… it is not all pure football, it is other attributes they have had,” he added.
The Netherlands defeated Turkey in a thrilling quarterfinal clash, as they came back from behind to knock out the underdogs. England will face the Dutch for a place in the finals, as France and Spain contest in the first semifinal on Tuesday evening.
