Gareth Southgate’s final answer was as fair a summary as anyone’s. “We are now consistently back in the matches that matter - it’s the last step that we haven’t been able to do”, he said, before walking out of Sunday's post-match press conference and into the uncomforting Berlin night after defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 Final, with fairytales absent and dreams still unrealised.
Southgate had admitted he “wants to win so much on Sunday that it hurts.” Instead, those years of hurt tick on ever-upwards, to 60 by the next World Cup. But Southgate - who resigned on Tuesday - must be credited. If not able to change the narrative, he has at least made it readable.
