Manager Gareth Southgate hails second successive European Championship Final as his greatest England achievement

England manager Gareth Southgate has started his preparations for Sunday’s EURO 2024 against favourites Spain by praising the players who defeated Holland 2-1 in an historic semi-final victory.

No England side has reached a major final on foreign soil in the history of football – until now.

The jubilant England coach said: This has to be the best [achievement]. It’s another landmark, but the way we played, we played so well throughout the game. It was a complicated game, they kept changing, we had to respond. We caused them problems all night and the end is so special for the squad.

“The most important thing is that the whole squad are ready to come into the game. We spend a lot of time with those guys [the substitutes], and I’m so chuffed for Ollie [Watkins].

“We felt, energy wise, we were starting to lose some pressure [second half]. Ollie can press well and make those runs in behind. We thought it was a good moment to try him.

“We deserved to win tonight. We were very fluid in our formation, it wasn’t just a back three, we had to adapt all the time and the players made so many good decisions.”