“They’ve been the best team” Gareth Southgate on Spain ahead of EURO Final

Gareth Southgate says Spain will present England with “the greatest possible test” in Sunday’s European Championship final, but believes his side have shown they have “as good a chance as they do”.

England booked their place in a first final on foreign soil with a 2-1 win over the Netherlands in Dortmund, sealed by Ollie Watkins 90th-minute winner.

They will face Luis de la Fuente’s slick side, who have already seen off Croatia, Italy, Georgia, Germany and France at Euro 2024 en route to the Olympic Stadium.

Asked how his side could hurt the Spanish, who beat the French in the other semi-final on Tuesday, Southgate said: “We’ll have to get the ball off them first!

“It’s not as simple as us having the ball and making them run. They press very, very well so we’re going to have to be exceptional with the ball and we’re going to have to be exceptional without it. It’s a final so you expect it to be that way.

“They’ve been the best team. We’re starting to show a better version of ourselves.
“The extra day [of rest for Spain] is a concern, in the last few tournaments that’s been a problem for finalists. We’ve got to do the very best we can to recover the players as well as we can.

“We’re not going to be on the training ground, that’s simple. We’ll be walking through things or delivering things in meetings, it was the same for this game, but we’re in there and with what we’ve shown to this point, we have as good a chance as they do.”