(July 12), England’s advancement to the first-ever major tournament final held abroad at Euro2024 is the result of ten years of effort on a player development program that has transformed recurrent underachievers into consistent contenders.
With a player development program that has transformed recurring underachievers into regular contenders, England has advanced to its first-ever major tournament final on foreign soil at Euro 2024. After years of success at the youth level and in the women’s game,
Gareth Southgate’s team has one last task to complete on Sunday: ending a 58-year wait to win a major trophy at the senior men’s international level against Spain. Shortly after the Three Lions’ disastrous exit from the 2014 World Cup with one match remaining in the group stage, Southgate, who was then the manager of the England under-21 team, made an appearance with Dan Ashworth, the technical director of the English Football Association.
The “England DNA” plan they unveiled aimed to combine the fervor for which English football was known with improved technique and a more resilient mindset to withstand the demands of major tournament football.
Following successful stints at Brighton and Newcastle, Ashworth, who was recently appointed Manchester United’s sporting director, said, “One of the mantras we have is ‘The only thing that changes is the size of the shirt.“
We thus have some consistent messaging around them as they progress through that player pathway, from an under-15 boy or girl to the seniors.
“If everyone is on the same page and everyone buys into and believes what you are trying to do it can become so much more powerful.“
At every level, the outcomes since then speak for themselves.
Numerous members of Southgate’s German team have previously won youth competitions.
Twelve months ago, England’s first under-21 European championship in 39 years was won by a team that included Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer. The team defeated Spain in the final.
In 2017, Ezri Konsa emerged victorious in the Under-20 World Cup, while Phil Foden, along with Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher, secured the title of Player of the Tournament in the Under-17 World Cup.
The women of England made history by winning their first major competition on home soil in 2022 at the Euros, and they advanced to the World Cup final the following year.
At the time, Ashworth remarked, “As a football nation, we have long been characterised by our passion, fighting spirit, and effort.“
“Although there are aspects of these characteristics we wish to retain, we do not wish to be solely defined by them.“
England has experienced a rollercoaster ride to the Euro 2024 final thanks to a combination of players with higher technical standards and an old-fashioned never-say-die mentality.
Pre-tournament hyped as one of the favorites, Southgate acknowledged that the pressure was on as his team struggled to advance through the group stage, managing just two goals in three matches.
After that, they had to rely on late comebacks and flashes of individual genius from Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka to survive as they edged out lower-tier opponents in Slovakia and Switzerland to advance to the round of four.
However, England’s ten years of preparation paid off in Dortmund against the Netherlands with a memorable 2-1 semifinal victory.
When an English team plays a Dutch team, I think it will be a long time before they have 60 percent of the ball. Thus, it demonstrates the more contemporary England approach: “Southgate grinned afterward.”
Ahead is the ultimate test against a Spain team that has swept all before them, on the harder side of the draw, including Germany and France.
Under Southgate, England have had a number of near misses in the past.
They surprised everyone by making it to the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and then losing to Italy on penalties in the home leg of the Euro 2020 championship.
Two years prior, in a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to France, Harry Kane caused even more heartbreak by mishandling a late penalty in Qatar.
However, that experience has made them more qualified than ever to win the title of Champions of Europe.
“We’re more calm going into the knockout games because the first time we did it in Russia, we hadn’t won a knockout game for 10 years,” said Southgate.
We had not gone through the ordeal. We’ve successfully navigated many quarterfinal and semifinal matches thus far. “I managed my first-ever European Championship final in the previous match. I apologize if I didn’t get anything right. This week, I’m going to try to perform better.“
