Southgate takes pride at reaching Euros final
DORTMUND
England manager Gareth Southgate said he was "immensely proud" to lead the Three Lions into a first ever major tournament final on foreign soil after a dramatic 2-1 win over the Netherlands on July 10.
Ollie Watkins struck a stoppage-time winner in Dortmund to send England into July 14’s final against Spain in Berlin.
For the third consecutive game England was forced to come from behind after Xavi Simons' early thunderbolt for the Dutch.
But Southgate's men got their rewards for a much-improved performance as Harry Kane leveled from the penalty spot before Aston Villa striker Watkins proved the unlikely hero after his limited role at the tournament so far.
"I was really pleased with the quality of our play. It will be, I would imagine, a long time, if ever, an English side had 60 percent of the ball against a side from the Netherlands. So it shows the more modern England way," said Southgate.
The England boss had been heavily criticized after his side needed late equalizer against Slovakia and Switzerland to reach the last four.
But in four major tournaments in charge, Southgate has now led his country to two finals, a semifinal and a quarterfinal.
And he is keen to make amends from losing the Euro 2020 final on penalties to Italy at Wembley three years ago.
"The only reason I did the job when I took it on was to try and bring success to England as a nation and to try and improve English football," he added.
"To be able to take the team to a first final overseas, I'm immensely proud of that.”
"But now of course we've come here to win. We play the team who've been the best team in the tournament and we have a day less to prepare, so it's a huge task. But we're still here and we're fighting."
