England’s players now expect the target to be tournament victory, Gareth Southgate revealed, as the team stand on the brink of Euro 2024 qualification. The manager said that lifting the trophy was now the aim in a team meeting at the start of this international break, and a lot of it was to do with how the squad has evolved over the past six years. England play Ukraine in Wroclaw on Saturday and victory could see them qualify this week depending on other results. With qualification already virtually guaranteed, though, it is the trophy itself they are aiming for.
“I think now they need that challenge,” Southgate said. “The players don’t want us to come in and be talking differently, and we’ve got evidence over a long period of time that we should have that belief. Of course, you’ve got to go and deliver it and a lot can happen in terms of availability of players and everything, but for us that has to be the longer-term aim.”
