EURO 2024: Coach Southgate makes shocking prediction, places final gamble with England team

"If England do not win EURO this year, I will probably leave the team right after the tournament. Therefore, this could also be my last chance with the team to win a major title," coach Southgate emphasized in an interview with BILD (Germany), before the first training session of the "Three Lions" in Germany on the journey to conquer the EURO 2024 championship.

Coach Southgate determined that the last chance for England to win the championship is now.

EURO 2024

Coach Southgate and the England team sadly accepted the runner-up position of EURO 2020 (playing in 2021), when losing to the Italian team in the final match at Wembley with a score of 2-3 after a penalty shootout (drawing 1-1 in regular time). This is the time when the "Three Lions" are closest to glory under the leadership of Coach Southgate, after reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup (ranked 4th overall) and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup. Besides that is the 3rd place in the UEFA Nations League season 2018 - 2019.

"I've been here (as England manager) for nearly eight years now, and it's at the end of the road. I've always known that you can't keep standing in front of the public and saying, 'Please, give us more time.' At some point, people will lose faith in your message. If we want to be a great team and I want to be a top manager, we have to show it in the important moments. EURO 2024 is our next chance to show it, it's also my last chance personally," said Southgate.

Coach Southgate still has a contract to lead the England team until December this year. But he admitted: "I can leave right after EURO 2024 if I don't win the championship. I also think that about half of the coaches at EURO this year will leave their teams after the tournament. That's the nature of international football."

England hope for the return of Jude Bellingham (right), the player who just won the Champions League and La Liga with Real Madrid

The England team's preparation for EURO 2024 has not been smooth, they have received a lot of criticism for their recent poor performance, such as losing 0-1 to Iceland at Wembley. Coach Southgate has also been criticized for many things and is under a lot of pressure, for leaving out stars James Maddison, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford, while number 1 center back Harry Maguire had to stay home because he could not recover from injury in time.

The Three Lions will kick off EURO 2024 with their opening match against Serbia at 2am on June 17 in Group C. This will be followed by a match against Denmark at 11pm on June 20 and the final group stage match against Slovenia at 2am on June 26.

Coach Southgate's biggest expectation now is the perfect return of attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham, who will be the link connecting the remaining stars such as Harry Kane, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka or Trent Alexander-Arnold... to show the true strength of the England team.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/euro-2024-hlv-southgate-dua-du-bao-gay-soc-dat-canh-bac-cuoi-voi-doi-tuyen-anh-185240612140704992.htm