England boss Gareth Southgate rejects Italy Euro 2020 losing theory
Gareth Southgate has rejected a theory that England were too nice to win Euro 2020 following their penalty shootout loss to Italy last night. England were appearing in their first European final, and were beaten 3-2 on penalties. There have been questions raised over whether the Three Lions needed more bite to bring the trophy home.
“You’re not a nice team to get to a final,” Southgate said. “We overcame a lot of hurdles that we haven’t in the past.
“We have a lot of players who are inexperienced at an international level – and they performed incredibly.
“We have beaten Germany and we have taken Italy, who are unbeaten in 33 games, right to the wire. If we had been torn apart… but we performed well.”
Southgate remains upbeat despite the loss, adding: “If you want sustained success as a team, you need to be constantly evolving, improving and constantly finishing in latter stages of tournaments.
“It feels like my stomach has been ripped out this morning. But the fact we have had the first signs of some consistency – a World Cup semi-final and a Euro final – has to be a step in the right direction.”
