The England captain has spoken of an acute sense of hurt following a second consecutive defeat in the final of the European Championship
called England’s Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain “as painful as it can be”, describing their sense of hurt after losing to Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winner in Berlin.
“It’s been a difficult ride. We’ve done extremely well to get here. We wanted to do it so badly for ourselves and also for the fans and everyone who’s believed in us the whole way.” Accepting that England “fell short”, Southgate emphasised they should hold their heads high after a sometimes tumultuous run to the competition’s bitter end. “I’m very proud of the group of players, they couldn’t have given me or the country any more,” he said.
Questioned directly about Kane, who has noticeably laboured despite the bittersweet honour of jointly taking the Golden Boot with three goals, Southgate admitted England’s record goalscorer was some way below his best. “Physically it has been tough for him,” he said. “He came into the tournament short on games and has not quite reached the level we all would have hoped.
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