It is time for England and manager Gareth Southgate to deliver when their Euro 2024 campaign begins on Sunday, writes Phil McNulty.
England's Euro 2024 campaign starts in what was once known as the "City of Thousand Fires”, with manager Gareth Southgate knowing his fourth major tournament in charge cannot be a slow burner.
The England fans making their way to Gelsenkirchen are doing so with high expectations fuelled by the world-class reliability of Kane and the emergence of Jude Bellingham, the new golden boy and a Champions League winner with Real Madrid. Stojkovic looked to be playing psychological games by repeatedly claiming England were favourites for Euro 2024, adding: "My players can hardly wait for the match to start. We are going to be ready for the great challenge called England."
England's recent performances have been mixed - including a desperately poor loss to Iceland at Wembley in their final friendly before travelling to Germany - but the excitement surrounding the attacking talent in this squad is arguably greater than at any time under Southgate. The other point of view paints him as a conservative nearly man presiding over missed opportunities in the World Cup semi-final against Croatia in Moscow six years ago, and the Euro 2020 final against Italy at Wembley, games lost after his side took an early lead before losing direction and, ultimately, both matches.
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