Shearer: England have proven themselves winners at Euro 2024

Alan Shearer believes England have gone through all the things winning teams go through at Euro 2024, as they target glory in Sunday’s final.

England face Spain in the European Championship showpiece in Berlin, aiming to claim a first major international honour since the 1966 World Cup.

But the Three Lions’ journey until this point has been far from straightforward.

Having taken five points from their three Group C games, Gareth Southgate’s side were moments away from being eliminated from the tournament until Jude Bellingham’s spectacular injury-time equaliser against Slovakia in the last 16.

After winning that match in extra time, the drama continued in the quarter-finals as they beat Switzerland on penalties following a 1-1 draw, having trailed with 10 minutes to play.

But arguably the best was saved until last. Again coming from behind, Ollie Watkins’ late strike secured a 2-1 semi-final win over the Netherlands in Dortmund.

Watkins’ 90th-minute winner steered England into back-to-back European Championship finals, achieving more major tournament finals in four attempts under Southgate (two), than they did in their first 23 appearances at the World Cup and Euros (one).

Brace yourself pic.twitter.com/hIugaS3Vaw

— England (@England) July 13, 2024

Despite their results arguably being better than their performances, Shearer believes England have experienced enough in Germany to get the job done on Sunday.

“One of Gareth’s greatest strengths as England’s manager has been recalibrating our expectations,” Shearer told The Athletic.

“He came into the job at the lowest of ebbs, but his humility and good sense have helped reduce any sense of entitlement. We’re good tourists now.

“We’re not aloof or arrogant, which was how we were perceived for a very long time. We’re decent and we know it, but we want to be in the thick of tournaments. We want to be part of them.

“In our first few games in Germany, the old fear was back.

“My theory, my hope, is that England have gone through all the things that winning teams go through. You need a bit of luck and we had it with the decision for Harry Kane’s penalty the other night.

“We’ve had a shoot-out and navigated it, we’ve had a sluggish start and improved. You can see why people are saying maybe this is our time.

“I’ll be in the stadium for the final and I’ll be fizzing and fidgeting.

“It might sound a bit morbid but I said to my son not too long ago, that I just want to be around when the Newcastle or England teams I so proudly represented win a f***ing trophy. Surely one isn’t too much to ask?”

Tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/RVWKoav5qu

— England (@England) July 13, 2024