England are out to avenge their defeat in the last Euros final and have an extra “fire in the belly” to win, Harry Kane has said.
Speaking at a press conference alongside manager Gareth Southgate ahead of the final in Berlin on Sunday, the Three Lions captain said the team would take inspiration from the heart-breaking defeat to Italy on penalties three years ago.
The 30-year-old striker admitted it’s “tough to wipe it out the memory” but said the players have an extra “hunger and fire in the belly to make sure this one goes our way”.
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“It would mean everything,” he said.
Southgate said England must “get everything right” in order to beat Spain in the final of Euro 2024, adding: “We would love to give everybody another special night tomorrow.”
His side will take on a Spanish team who have been in imperious form, winning all of their six games so far in the tournament, including victories against Germany and France.
But England themselves will have plenty of confidence going into the game after a strong performance in their 2-1 semi-final win over the Netherlands and having overcome Switzerland on penalties.
The England boss said: “We would love to give everybody another special night tomorrow.”
“I’m not a believer in fairy tales, but I am a believer in dreams,” he said.
“We’ve had big dreams, we’ve felt the importance of that. But you have to make those things happen.
“Fate, the run that we’ve had, the late goals, the penalties, that doesn’t equate to it being our moment. We have to make that happen tomorrow and be at the levels we need to perform.
“It would be a lovely story, but it’s our hands and our performance that is the most important things.”
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Southgate showed his squad pictures of Trafalgar Square celebrating previous successes for England’s rugby and cricket teams and said: “When you are trying to create dreams you want to have a clear picture of what you see at the end of it.
“I think that lights a small fire for some people and for others it is different but we know what it would mean to everybody at home, to us as a squad and the hard work that has gone in.”
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He said England will have to be “very well organised” against Spain, who press with “real intensity” and keep possession of the ball well.
Southgate wants to see a repeat of the performance against the Netherlands and said he is pleased with his side’s progress with penalties.
When he took over as England boss in 2016 he quickly set up an 18-month task force to end the hoodoo of six defeats out of seven on spot-kicks.
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“We’ve wanted to take control of those processes, feel in charge of it. It’s helped by the fact that we have more players who taken penalties regularly for their clubs,” he says.
“But nevertheless, we’ve now won three of our last four [shootouts], which is a big difference to where we were before.
“A lot of people can take a lot of satisfaction in that piece of work and we have to be ready in case that’s needed tomorrow.”
