Gareth Southgate admits England ‘have a long way to go before we can be regarded as a football country like Italy’ ahead of the UEFA EURO 2020 Final, as it’s such a rare experience for the Three Lions.
It kicks off at Wembley Stadium on Sunday at 20.00 UK time and is the only England’s second ever major tournament Final after the 1966 World Cup.
“I’ve been watching them closely for two years and knew the job Roberto (Mancini) was doing,” England manager Southgate told Sky Sport Italia.
“We knew the disappointment of not qualifying for the World Cup, Italy is an incredible football nation, I think I heard the other night 12 semi-finals and 10 finals. Compared to us, that’s an incredible record.
“We’ve got a long way to go before we can be regarded as a football country like Italy.”
Today is the 15th anniversary of Italy winning the 2006 World Cup, their fourth edition of the trophy.
They have only won the Euros once before, in 1968, but reached the Final in 2000 and 2012 before this 2020 attempt.
England, on the other hand, are in their first European Championship Final and haven’t been in a showdown for any trophy since 1966, which was also at Wembley.
Mancini has also transformed the Azzurri following the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, winning all 10 games in qualifying, reaching the Nations League Final Four and on an unbeaten run of 33 matches.
“They’ve got a very clear way of playing, great spirit, great energy. Tactically, like all Italian teams, they are very good. But the style of play is also very different to when I was younger, very modern,” continued Southgate.
“So it’s an exceptional team and we have without doubt the best two teams in the tournament at the Final. Now it’s whoever performs well on the day.”
England have never beaten Italy in a major tournament, losing all four previous meetings.