When Gareth Southgate watches his players walk out at the Olympiastadion on Sunday night, he will trust them to finish the job. If England expects then this time belief rather than entitlement is the cause. A squad that has spent the past four weeks walking through fire and somehow emerging unscathed is ready. In Berlin, where England face Spain in a Euro 2024 final that pits process-driven Southgateism against possession football mixed with devastating wing play, there is no room for fear.
Instead, as the chance to follow the heroes of 1966 into sporting immortality beckons, the sense is of a group hardened by previous disappointments. Southgate can feel it when he looks at the old-timers. Some stalwarts have had to make way for the new generation – Harry Maguire is missing through injury, age has caught up with Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling has drifted from contention – but when it comes to leadership England’s manager can still count upon Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, John Stones and Harry Kane to remember the pain of losing to Croatia after playing in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
