England determined to end 58-year 'title drought'

Coach Southgate admitted that EURO 2024 could be his last chance to succeed in a major tournament with the England team after 8 years of fighting with his students.

England captain Harry Kane. (Source: AFP/VNA)

England are under huge pressure as they are considered one of the favourites to win EURO 2024 and coach Gareth Southgate has set a priority on bringing a talented generation to glory. According to Mr. Southgate, the England team must be "really special" to be able to end their 58-year drought of major tournaments. He and his students will officially begin their journey to conquer the top of Europe with the opening match against Serbia at 2am on June 17. Coach Southgate admitted that this could be his last chance to succeed in a major tournament with the England team after 8 years of fighting with his students. Speaking at a press conference ahead of the match against Serbia, the 53-year-old strategist said: "This tournament has a lot of strong teams. We have to be excellent to get through the group stage and from there have a chance to go further. When you strive to achieve special achievements, you have to divide the goals into many stages. Our top priority now is to get through the group stage." Despite his impressive scoring record at club and international level, England captain Harry Kane has yet to win a major trophy in his career. The player who scored 44 goals in his first season at Bayern Munich emphasized: "Winning a title for your country would be the pinnacle of any career. That has not happened yet and so I am even more determined and hungry to be able to make that goal come true, starting this summer. We have the opportunity and I want to make it happen." At EURO 2024, England - the current runners-up - are in a group with Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia. If they play at their best, it will certainly not be too difficult for the "Three Lions" to get a ticket to the next round, but coach Southgate and his team need to get the top spot in Group C to avoid strong opponents in the next round. England's opponents in the opening match are not too formidable. Coach Dragan Stojkovic's team won only 4 out of 8 matches in the qualifying round. They lost both times against Hungary and were held to a draw by Bulgaria twice. However, the name to be most wary of in the Serbian team is striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who played for 8 years in the Premier League for Newcastle and Fulham. Mitrovic is in good form. He scored 40 goals in 43 appearances for Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal Club, helping the team win the domestic treble. Coach Southgate rated Mitrovic as "an excellent goalscorer" that his students need to be wary of. German police consider the match between England and Serbia the first real test of EURO 2024 in terms of security, as both football nations are often affected by "hooliganism." To control the situation, fans at the AufSchalke Arena are only allowed to drink low-alcohol beer./.