England’s head coach Gareth Southgate stated that the “job is not done” after beating the Netherlands 2-1 in the European Championship (Euro) 2024 semi-final which was played at the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, on Wednesday.
The match was about to enter into extra time but Ollie Watkins, who replaced star striker Harry Kane, scored in the 90th minute and booked England’s place in the final where they will face Spain.
This was England’s back-to-back Euro final as they finished runner-ups in the 2020 edition and will now once again compete in the final. Southgate stated that he became their manager to improve English football and that is happening.
“I took the job to try and improve English football and we’re now in a second final,” Southgate said. “The last one was the first in 50 years. We’re now in the first that isn’t played on our shores.
“I think we’ve got a team that will be together for quite a while, so it’s not as though this is a team that’s at the end of a cycle.
“We’re giving people some amazing nights. I think we’ve given our supporters some of the best nights over the last 50 years, so I’m hugely proud of that.
“I’m delighted if everybody at home is feeling the way we are and the way the supporters in the stadium are feeling.
“But from our point of view, we’re not finished. We’ve got the greatest possible test to prepare for and we came here to try and win the tournament, and that’s still our aim.”
Spain are on absolute fire in the tournament as they have scored 13 goals and dominated almost all of their opponents. Their journey to the final included wins over Germany (quarter-final) and France (semi-final), two title contenders.
On the other hand, England narrowly escaped defeat to Slovakia in the Round of 16 as Jude Bellingham’s last-minute overhead kick kept them in the tournament. In the quarter-finals, they defeated Switzerland on penalty shootouts.
