England expects as Gareth Southgate’s men complete their final preparations for Euro 2024.
The Three Lions squad flew out to Germany earlier this week ahead of Sunday night’s opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen as the team look to go one better than Euro 2020’s heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat in the Wembley final.
Much of England’s success in that tournament came from a superb defensive showing, with just two goals conceded in seven matches.
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Jordan Pickford was the man marshalling the defence and the Everton goalkeeper will again be between the sticks in Germany.
The 30-year-old was excellent for Everton this season, narrowly missing out on the Premier League Glove Award, but has the opportunity to set an England record in the coming days.
Pickford heads to Euro 2024 in Germany needing to keep just one clean sheet in order to equal Peter Shilton’s record for the number of clean sheets at a major tournament.
Shilton, who remains England’s most-capped player of all time, played in 20 tournament matches, keeping a clean sheet in 10 of them. These all came in World Cup matches, with four in 1982, three in 1986 and another three in 1990.
Pickford meanwhile, has played in 19 tournament matches and has nine blanks to his name. He kept one clean sheet in the 2018 World Cup, five in the run to the Euro 2020 final, then three at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Should the former Sunderland man notch up another two clean sheets, he will be in sole possession of the record - and more importantly for the team, it will boost England’s chances of finally ending their 58-year wait for a major trophy.
Southgate’s men kick off their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday, with matches against Denmark and Slovenia to follow.
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