England at Euro 2024: Gareth Southgate says ‘expectation weighed heavily’ at start of tournament

England boss Gareth Southgate admits “the noise had never been louder” at the start of Euro 2024 but says his side are now ready to make “history” as they prepare for a semi-final against the Netherlands.

Southgate said his team – who won one and drew two of their group stage games before narrowly beating Slovakia and then edging past Switzerland on penalties in the knock-outs – “couldn’t quite get ourselves in the right place”.

“One of our strengths over the years has been having less fear, showing less inhibition,” he said.

“But at the beginning of the tournament the expectation weighed heavily and the noise from outside had never been louder.”

Captain Harry Kane said the team “use past experiences to help” when they approach “tough” games like Wednesday’s semi-final (20:00 BST).

“I just think during the game you lean on experience, the leaders who have been there and done that,” Kane said. “Ultimately it’s about going out there and taking the opportunity with both hands.

“Reaching back-to-back European Championship finals would be an amazing achievement and we have the opportunity to go and do that.”