Sunday, 14 July 2024 14:49
By Rob Harris, sports correspondent
This still doesn't feel normal for England.
For generations, it was always other countries reaching finals. Not England.
But this is a men's team transformed by Gareth Southgate - a nation that sees itself as a footballing power, starting to look more like one.
Three semi-finals in four tournaments; back-to-back Euros finals.
Can they finally add silverware by beating Spain tonight to join the Lionesses as European champions.
"I've travelled to tournaments and watched highlights reels before big matches on the screen and we weren't in any of them," Southgate said.
"I am not a believer in fairytales, but I am a believer in dreams. We've had big dreams and felt the importance of that, but you've got to make those things happen."
It is not destiny to end 58 years of hurt by winning their first overseas final tonight.
Southgate has spoken long enough about trying to dispel that sense of "entitlement" that attaches itself to English football.
Whether it is a sense of a divine right to be sweeping up every title and to be hosting the tournaments as well.
But if football does come home - from the song often misconstrued as purely bravado rather than hope usually turning to heartache - it would be the fulfilment of a journey Southgate has been on from the start.
Not the personal pain of missing the penalty in the Euro '96 semi-final against Germany.
But how he helped to develop the St George's Park base for England teams before picking up the men's senior side at its lowest ebb eight years ago.
The stop-gap manager has become one of the national team's finest. The 53-year-old's contribution might only be truly appreciated when no longer in the England dugout.
"Really, I think we've improved the credibility of English football in how it's perceived around the world.
"But ultimately, until you win that trophy, then there will always be those questions, both abroad and at home, about what we've done."
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Whether his 102nd game on Sunday will be his last, perhaps only Southgate knows.
It is a rarity in football that the decision is down to the manager rather than his bosses.
But it says everything about how far he has rekindled the nation's affection for the team and its growing status in the world that the decision is Southgate's to make.
"This journey and this road that he has been on has been so special," midfielder Declan Rice said. "The way he looks after us, how calm he is, how he is as a man-manager, how he is on the training pitch with us, he's top."
Football though can be fickle.
The booing in the group stage in Germany hurt Southgate as his capabilities were questioned.
But this is a tournament when fresh talent has been given a platform to shine - with half the squad shaken up since the 2022 World Cup exit to France.
From willingness to deploy teenager Kobbie Mainoo to giving a tournament debut at 28 to Ollie Watkins who became the semi-final hero against the Netherlands.
But had England not made it into the knockout phase, Southgate now says on a new contract: "I don't think that would have necessarily been my choice."
In the knockout phase, though, something has stirred in the team.
Maybe the late comebacks and winners are why Southgate referenced the word "fate" on the eve of this final.
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"What we've been through with the late goals and the penalty shootout," said captain and all-time leading England scorer Harry Kane, "all that builds resilience and belief."
Maybe tonight does not end with the usual hard-luck stories of sorrow Southgate was accustomed to as a player before enduring the same "rollercoaster" as a manager.
Maybe the class of 2024 will join the World Cup wonders of 1966 and the Lionesses of 2022 in the pantheon of English sporting greats.
Maybe it needs a night of unbridled joy to encourage a greater focus on the next generation and general wellbeing - by investing in football facilities and ensuring a third of grassroots pitches are no longer of inadequate quality.
But however the final unfolds against Spain - and expect a gruelling and challenging night against the team that's won all six matches in Germany - remember this.
Before Southgate, England's men had not reached a final in 55 years. He has taken them to two finals in three years.
And the despair of losing to Italy last time only deepens the determination to rise to the moment and seize this second shot at glory.
"I don't have fear of what might happen because I've been through everything," Southgate said. "I want the players to feel that fearlessness, I want them to be the best version of themselves because whatever happens, we're so strong as a group and we support each other."
(c) Sky News 2024: Euro 2024 final: Will the years of despair deepen England's determination?
