England reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals with a 2-1 comeback win over Slovakia.
Gareth Southgate praised England’s squad for invoking the spirit of 1966 as the Euro 2024 hopefuls dug deep to beat Slovakia a few weeks after watching a presentation about Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup heroes.
Asked what his thoughts were in the moments before Bellingham struck, Southgate said: “Well, I knew Ivan Toney had the hump with me for putting him on, that was the first thing!“We showed the players a presentation about 1966 and how Geoff Hurst hadn’t played until the quarter-finals, and the difficult route that the team had had.
“In terms of ’66, we just wanted to highlight that tournaments take you in strange places and difficult routes,” the under-pressure England boss said of the presentation. “Everybody, I’m sure, will still quite understandably be questioning our performances. I understand that.“I’m so proud of how the players have stuck together and the leadership they’ve shown, not only on the pitch but back at the base, and that is hugely important for us.”Slovakia were tantalisingly close to their greatest result as an independent nation, with head coach Francesco Calzona’s overriding emotion being pride rather than disappointment.
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