GARETH: WE’RE KANE AND ABLE
EURO 2024
GARETH SOUTHGATE insists England have the big-game players to win the Euros next summer.
Southgate stated that Harry Kane is every bit as important to England as Lionel Messi is to Argentina and Kylian Mbappe to France.
And the boss of one of England’s opponents next summer, Serbia’s Dragan Stojkovic, also claimed that Jude Bellingham is destined to be one of the best players in the world.
It immediately marks down England as one of the favourites for the Euros as they drew Denmark, Serbia and Slovenia in their group.
England boss Southgate believes his team can handle the extra pressure – and have enough quality to win the tournament as this week they moved up to third in the FIFA rankings, behind Argentina and France.
Southgate said: “They are used to playing in big matches together and individually, so we are all looking forward to the summer.
“Harry is a fabulous player, the games are a bit different at Bayern, they dominate so much that he’s playing a lot higher so it’s interesting to see that.
“He’s a very, very special player, he’s won so many games for us, not just with his goals, but his play, his passing, the way he leads the line – we’re fortunate to have him.
“We are hugely excited to be part of the tournament. We are getting used to these big
JUNE 14-JULY 14, 2024 games, so we are ready for that expectation and we hope we can give our supporters some more brilliant nights.”
Stojkovic said: “At the moment, Bellingham is very close to being the best and he is going to be the best. 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 go to the final and win the championship, he’s going to be the best player of Europe, definitely.”
Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand said his side are out for revenge after losing to England in the Euros at Wembley after a controversial late penalty.
Hjulmand said: “I still wake up at night thinking about that match. Obviously, when you are that close, it is something you will always remember and always carry with you.
“So, that one hurts – really, really a lot. We will now see if we can do it better in Frankfurt.”
Meanwhile, England are set to pick a remote fivestar hotel as their base for Euro 2024. Southgate has always looked for venues away from the spotlight and his preferred choice is Golfresort Weimarer Land, 90 minutes from Leipzig in east Germany.
The 94-room resort charges £300 a night for a suite and has two 18hole golf courses, a ninehole course, two pools, seven restaurants and two full-size football pitches.