SAMI MOKBEL: The stars are aligning for England as they bid for immortality after comfortable Euro 2024 draw… Gareth Southgate’s players are at the peak of their powers. Failing to qualify from this group would be a calamity
- Pressure on England is growing after being handed favourable Euro 2024 draw
- The stars are aligning for Three Lions but failing to qualify would be a disaster
- Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be Erik ten Hag’s biggest threat – Listen to why on It’s All Kicking Off
The gleaming Elbphilharmonie, setting for Saturday’s Euro 2024 draw, was the brainchild of Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, who were also responsible for creating Beijing’s Olympic Stadium.
When Gareth Southgate returns to Germany next summer, only a gold medal will suffice.
Here at the €860million concert venue – once described as a ‘crystalline palace for music in the air’ – the 10 former footballers tasked with the draw played a tune very much to Southgate’s liking.
Group matches against Denmark, Serbia and Slovenia is as comfortable as it gets, though speaking after the draw Southgate was at his diplomatic best.
He said: ‘When Denmark came out first you think “okay, interesting”. Of course everyone was thinking about Italy in the lower pots and Croatia.
Gareth Southgate knows only triumph will suffice when he takes his England to Euro 2024
His Three Lions side have been given a comfortable draw and the stars look to be aligning
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‘But I have to say Serbia are a very dangerous opponent and Slovenia takes me back to one of my first games as manager where but for Joe Hart plucking out one of the best saves I’ve ever seen, I wouldn’t be standing here and I would probably still be a caretaker but at something else.
‘You can look at it on paper but the games aren’t played on paper. There are one or two teams you are glad to avoid, certainly in pot three and pot four but all the teams we play are more than capable.
‘I was really relaxed about all of it. The advantage we have got is having been in a few tournaments you know the format, you know the next objective is to get out of the group and you try and build from there really.’
Denmark will likely pose England the biggest threat in Group C. Inspired by the heart ache of their Euro 2020 semi-final loss to England, the Danes won’t be pushovers.
‘I still wake up at night thinking about that match,’ said Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand.
England avoided the most worrying teams in their group as they bid for immortality
England expects after the draw – but Southgate insists his side can handle the expectation
ENGLAND EURO 2024 FIXTURES
Match 1: Sunday June 16 – England vs Serbia (Gelsenkirchen)
Match 2: Thursday June 20 – England vs Denmark (Frankfurt)
Match 3: Tuesday June 25 – England vs Slovenia (Cologne)
‘Obviously, when you are that close, I think it is something you will always remember and will always carry with you when you are that close to a final.
‘So, that one hurts. Really, really, a lot. We will now see if we can do it better in Frankfurt.
‘We haven’t forgotten what happened at Wembley but England are a great team, they have a great manager.’
Yet with all that said, not to qualify out of this group would mark one of the greatest calamities in the history of English football – and there’s been a few.
Indeed, after Saturday’s draw the sense that England are on the cusp of immortality will merely intensify. The stars are aligning.
The draw is favourable. Harry Kane, John Stones and Kyle Walker are at the very peak of their powers.
England are full of star players at the peak of their powers – failing to qualify would be a calamity
Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are exceptional young footballers destined to lead England into the present and future.
England expects. Even more so after yesterday.
Only a spate of injuries to key players can quell the burgeoning levels of expectation. Losing Kane for a tournament remains a taboo subject.
‘He’s a fabulous player, nobody needs to tell us to have Harry Kane in our team,’ effused Southgate.
‘He’s a very, very special player, he’s won so many games for us. Not just with his goals, which are an obvious factor, but his play, his passing ability, the way he leads the line, we’re fortunate to have to have him.’
Equally, you fear how the defence would hold up without Stones, whose season has been beset by injury problems.
England’s midfield would lose its X-factor without Bellingham.
England boast Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane but if either are missing the team would lose some of its X-factor
Dragan Stojkovic, head coach of Serbia, was particularly gushing about England’s 20-year-old sensation.
‘At the moment he is very close to being the best (player in the world), and he is going to be the best,’ said Stojkovic.
‘He made a good choice to go to Real Madrid to get the Golden Ball [Ballon d’Or] as the best player, only at Real Madrid can he do that.
‘The guy is amazing, absolutely fantastic and he’s only 20-years-old. If England goes to the final and wins the championship he’s going to be the best player of Europe, definitely.
‘England are one of the best teams in Europe – England, France, Spain… England is one of the very, very serious candidates to get the trophy.
The agony of losing the Euro 2020 final is still etched into the memories of some England stars
‘Let’s be honest, it has fantastic potential with a great coach and players and mentality.’
Stojkovic is right. With a clean bill of health, England will be favourites.
And it’s a mantle they should embrace. Thrive on the expectancy to deliver, use it as fuel.
That’s the message Southgate has drummed into his players.
The national team’s record in European Championships, by and large, has been inadequate.
England have a real opportunity to banish those painful memories in Germany next summer
Of course, the euphoria of 2021 and England’s eventual final heartbreak to Italy will live long in the memory.
But the opportunity for England’s players to erase the pain of that fateful night at Wembley is fast approaching.
‘When other managers tell you nice things it’s what they think you want to hear, so I’m not always seduced by what they say,’ added Southgate.
‘It’s nice, we have a team that’s respected around Europe. People will see the results, people will see the performances.’
And here, in the most dazzling of architectural venues plotted on the picturesque Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River – in a city Kevin Keegan once called home – England’s route to glory received a major boost.
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
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