DUSSELDORF, Germany — Gareth Southgate believes history will shine far more kindly on England’s Euro 2024 campaign than the troubled vibe around the team’s play currently suggests.
The England head coach might avoid virtually all media — social or otherwise — during major tournaments, but he has still been made acutely and unavoidably aware of the public backlash that has followed each disappointing performance.
Jude Bellingham’s acrobatic strike and Harry Kane’s powerful header rescued Southgate’s men from being dumped out of the competition by Slovakia on Sunday, but once the flurry of excitement dissipated, England fans swiftly remembered how poorly the side played before its injury-time reprieve.
However, the coach has first-hand experience of the odd relationship between the fervent intensity that surrounds European Championships and World Cups, and the nostalgic way in which time heals many soccer sins.
At Euro ’96, Southgate missed the penalty kick that cost host nation England a semifinal defeat to eventual champion Germany. Yet that tournament is now regarded as a seminal summer that helped the country fall back in love with its national team.
It didn’t feel much like it in the moment, remembers Southgate, especially when the squad failed to shine in the group stage.
“Everybody now looks back at 1996 in a different way to how it was at the time,” Southgate said. “We were ‘bang average’ (very poor) against Switzerland in the first game, and we were the same against Scotland.”
That campaign 28 years ago turned around when England’s David Seaman saved a penalty against the Scots while leading 1-0. Iconic midfielder Paul Gascoigne then added a superb second goal that is still part of any all-time England highlights package, and an emotional journey was off and running.
“1990 was similar,” Southgate said, referring to the World Cup semifinal run that saw the team need David Platt’s last-minute extra-time winner against Belgium and a come-from-behind win against Cameroon, before also losing to Germany in the semis.
“You do go through these moments in tournaments. We know we should be better than we’ve been. We’ve got a very tough team to prepare for, so I’m already on to that.”
England meets Switzerland in Saturday’s quarterfinal in Dusseldorf. (noon ET on FOX)
The winner of that game will take on either the Netherlands, Romania, Austria or Turkey in the semifinal. Regardless of England’s form, the opening up of the bottom half of the draw means this is seen as a huge opportunity to win the men’s team’s first major trophy since the only one in its history, the 1966 World Cup.
Southgate has come under fire for his tactics and inability to get Bellingham, Kane and Phil Foden on the same page in attack. Central midfield has also caused problems, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Gallagher and Kobbie Mainoo all starting alongside Declan Rice.
Rice told how some of the abuse hurled at Southgate, including doubts of his methods from public and press, and cups thrown at him by angry supporters, was proving to be a motivating point for the players.
“We have got that togetherness, we would do anything to protect this manager,” Rice told reporters. “Keep going and keep fighting. It is an honor to be a part of it — we are going to keep going.”
The England squad spent Monday back at their base, where they welcomed family members for visits. Tuesday saw a light session but much at this stage of the tournament is about recharging the batteries ahead of the last eight.
Although it took an extra 30 minutes of extra time, Sunday’s win was the first time England had scored more than two goals in a game at the tournament.
A narrow win over Serbia in Group C was followed by disappointing draws with Denmark and Slovenia. With so much talent in the squad and having made the final last time, more was expected.
“We haven’t come to get to a quarterfinal,” Southgate added. “We now by a Swiss team that has been very good. We have a couple of days to recover and get ready for them.”
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