Gareth Southgate has said England must beat Spain to become European champions in order to earn the respect of the football world.
The Three Lions would would to be second time lucky when they face Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
It was heartbreak for Southgate and his players three years ago when they lost to the Italians on penalty shootout on home soil at Euro 2020.
Speaking in his final presser ahead of Sunday’s big clash against three-time European champions, Spain, Southgate said: “We tried to change the mindset from the start, we’ve tried to be more honest about where we were as a football nation.
“I’ve travelled to World Cups, European Championships and watched highlights reels before the matches on the big screens and we weren’t in any of them – because they only show the finals. So we needed to change that.
“We had high expectations, but they didn’t match where we were performance-wise. Now, the high expectations are still there but we have consistent performances over certainly three of the last four tournaments.
“A lot of records have been broken,” he said. “But we know we have to we have to do this one, we have to get this trophy to really feel the respect of the rest of the football world.”
