Gareth Southgate has known as on his England avid gamers to harness the ache of the hot previous to encourage a triumphant long term, as he prepares to kick-off his fourth match marketing campaign as supervisor.
England face Italy on the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday night time of their opening Euro 2024 qualifier – the title of the venue on my own is sufficient to stir the demons. As the favourite son of Naples, the place he drove town’s crew to their handiest two Serie A titles to this point, Maradona’s symbol is all over.
Southgate joked that he had higher now not speak about Maradona’s historical past with England however he didn’t disguise from his crew’s fresh historical past with Italy, who beat them on consequences at Wembley within the last of the remaining European Championship.
Motivation might not be an issue, Southgate mentioned, as he mirrored at the crucial to start out from scratch initially of some other marketing campaign, appearing center of attention and humility – and particularly now not when he and the squad take note how their earlier sport had ended. That was once the World Cup quarter-final towards France in Qatar, once they misplaced 2-1.
“Every disappointment is motivation, an opportunity to learn and to grow and, of course, the Euro final is additional motivation to us,” Southgate mentioned. “I am not going to deny that.
“Is it harder to refresh for a new cycle? No. The way we played in Qatar and then the disappointment of losing in the quarter-final, that generates motivation in itself. I was thrilled by the reaction of the players when they arrived this week. You see their excitement at coming back together, their enthusiasm for everything again.
“It is one of the greatest challenges anyone could have, trying to get England a trophy. That’s pretty straightforward. The hard part is that you have to wait 18 months to get to the point where you will actually be judged. We have to make sure we get the qualification right. We can’t take anything for granted.”
Quick Guide
Italy v England predicted lineups
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Italy (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Tolói, Acerbi, Spinazzola; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Berardi, Retegui, Pellegrini
England (4-3-3): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Phillips, Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Kane, Foden
Southgate has decided to stay on after Qatar – he is under contract with the Football Association until December 2024 – and it has been presumed that this tournament will be his last in the role. “Well, that depends if we win,” Southgate said with a smile.
Was he suggesting that he might stick around if England won their first men’s trophy since 1966? “Let’s hope we’ve got that opportunity to make that decision,” he spoke back.
After a semi-final finish at the 2018 World Cup, then final and quarter-final at the following two tournaments, Southgate is not afraid to state that he is in this one to win. As he said about Qatar.
“You have to be careful as a player not to assume when you’re younger that this might not be your last chance, as well,” he mentioned. “You’re always going to think you’re going to have other opportunities but injury, form, new players coming through in your position… you can never take anything for granted. Clearly the older ones know the timescale is quite clear. But everybody else has to be mindful of that as well.”
According to Southgate, his players “don’t need any more evidence of what’s possible. They have played in the biggest games in world football bar one. And they’ve had results against most of the top teams.”
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Victory against Italy, however, has eluded them. Southgate has taken them on four times as manager, drawing two and losing two. England have not won in Italy since 1961.
“The scenario of going to Italy, where we haven’t won for decades, is a classic of the type of game that we’ve got to start winning,” Southgate said. “If we are looking for the next step to take as a team, that is it.”
Excitement is mounting ahead of what the Italy manager, Roberto Mancini, called a “vintage sport.” It is the first time in 10 years that Naples has hosted a senior international. The city’s mayor, Gaetano Manfredi, was at the pre-match press conference; so was the Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, whose team are 19 points clear in this season’s title race.
Blue lights have been shone on the city’s most iconic monuments while Italy will wear a message on the inside of their shirts for Gianluca Vialli, who died in January. Mancini described him as “immortal,” someone that will live forever in people’s hearts and, also, an “honorary Londoner” – after his success at Chelsea.
Southgate said: “I take note the Napoli crew that received the primary two titles, with Maradona and Careca. I’ve by no means been to Naples sooner than and the historical past of the soccer is so wealthy right here. I’m having a look ahead to an important day.”
