Prematch: Serbia v England
BBC Radio 5 Live
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Prematch: Serbia v England
BBC Radio 5 Live
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Southgate speaks on eve of England's Euro 2024 campaign
Gareth Southgate says England will need to be "exceptional" to progress beyond the Euro 2024 group stages as they focus on Sunday's opener against Serbia.
The 53-year-old told German newspaper Bild earlier this week that failure to win a trophy in Germany could see the end of his stay as England manager.
Southgate has been in charge since 2016, taking his side to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, the Euro 2020 final and the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar.
His contract is due to expire in December but the Football Association are keen for him to remain as manager for the 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico.
In Saturday's media conference, Southgate said: "I have been in the job for eight years, I understand the landscape. Everyone who has been in the job has experienced the same thing.
"I just try to prepare the team in the best possible way and we're really looking forward to the beginning of the tournament.
"You've seen Germany play the way they did last night, Spain today [against Croatia]. There are a lot of good teams in this tournament. We have to be exceptional to progress through the group and the opportunity to go further.
"I am hugely excited – to lead your country into a major tournament is an amazing honour, a great privilege. It's just as exciting as it was ahead of Russia, if not more so."
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England's defence has been one of the major talking points and concerns as they prepare to face Serbia in their opening match.
But former Three Lions goalkeeper and BBC pundit Joe Hart doesn't see it being "as big an issue as it might appear".
"Inside the England camp there will be no concerns – I was in enough squads in my career to know that they will be ready," he said.
"I would imagine Southgate will set things up so whoever plays it won't matter. That way each player can bring their own individual qualities to their position, but the team will always be well organised."
Manchester City defender John Stones is expected to partner Marc Guehi in the absence of Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire and Hart says they will "know each other well".
"They have also been training together every day in the run-up to this tournament," he added. "I am sure they will feel very comfortable with each other, and they will understand exactly what their roles are.
Former England defender and BBC pundit Micah Richards doesn't expect to see a "fluid" England against Serbia.
He said: "If you look at the World Cup with Argentina versus Saudi Arabia, they lost that game and went on to win a World Cup. You can't be too disheartened by it.
"From an England point of view, it's how they set up. I think it's good we've got strength in depth but we need a plan and we need to stick to the plan to settle the nerves so the confidence builds.
"What England have to do is starve Serbia of the ball. Make it hard for them. So when they're hitting the balls long, they're just hopeless balls going to the striker.
"We know how dangerous [Aleksandar] Mitrovic can be from crosses. We do have to be careful with that."
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Serbia arrive in Germany following a mixed bag of results, having lost 2-1 to Austria before beating 3-0 Sweden in their friendly matches.
Despite qualifying for four of the past five World Cups, they will take part in their first European Championships since 2000, when Serbia and Montenegro competed as FR Yugoslavia.
Coached by former player Dragan Stojkovic, Serbia will look to cause problems from set-pieces and with long balls in to former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who now plays in Saudi Arabia.
Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic will bolster the attack, while Chelsea goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic and Fulham midfielder Sasa Lukic are also in the squad.
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German authorities have deemed England's opening Euro 2024 match against Serbia to be "high-risk".
The local police in Gelsenkirchen have made it clear the match could represent a security threat, highlighting a concern that 500 Serbian hooligans could be among several thousand supporters from the country expected to attend the match.
Only low-alcohol beer will be served at the stadium, and fans from the two countries will be kept apart, with more than 1,000 police officers on duty as part of a major security operation.
Serbia has faced issues with fan behaviour in recent seasons with hooliganism incidents linked to pro-Russian, far-right political groups, ultra-nationalism and organised crime.
Meanwhile, 40,000 English supporters are expected in Gelsenkirchen and, after the violence that marred the Euro 2016 match against Russia in Marseille, and the disorder that overshadowed the Euro 2020 final at Wembley, organisers will be desperate to avoid any repeat of such scenes.
There have been 15 matches between these sides – 14 involving England and Yugoslavia plus the Three Lions' 2-1 win against Serbia and Montenegro in a friendly in Leicester in 2003.
Harry Kane is set to make his 23rd major tournament appearance and play his 12th game at the Euros – both will be new outright records for England.
Jordan Pickford is one shy of matching Peter Shilton's record of 10 clean sheets for England at major tournaments.
Gareth Southgate's side have won one of their previous five games in all competitions (D2, L2).
England have played 38 games at the Euros (this will be the 39th) – the most by a team that has not won the competition.
The Three Lions beat Croatia 1-0 at Wembley in their opening game at Euro 2020 but have failed to win their first match at their other nine European Championship appearances (D5, L4).
Serbia have been eliminated in the group stage in each of their last four major tournament appearances, all at the World Cup – as Serbia in 2010, 2018 and 2022, and as Serbia and Montenegro in 2006.
A third of Serbia's 15 goals in qualifying were headers, the highest proportion of any Euro 2024 finalist.
It's the big question sweeping the nation – who will start for England against Serbia on Sunday?
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire's absence from the squad leaves questions around who will partner John Stones.
Manchester City centre-back Stones came off at half-time in the 1-0 friendly defeat by Iceland last Friday and feared he had broken his toe. He also missed training through illness on Wednesday but is expected to be fit for Sunday and will likely partner Palace's Marc Guehi.
Trent Alexander-Arnold played alongside Declan Rice in midfield at points in England's friendly matches leading up to the tournament, with Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton also impressing and Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo another option.
But Jude Bellingham, fresh from winning the Champions League with Real Madrid, was not available for those games and has already been predicted to be England's star this tournament.
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England boss Southgate has an abundance of options going forward and there have been calls for him to play Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden in a more central role – where he shone for his club this season – rather than on the wing.
Southgate is tasked with finding a way to incorporate his bounty of attacking players – Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon to name a few – while giving them the freedom to play where they are best suited.
BBC and ITV will share broadcasting coverage of Euro 2024 in the UK, following the pattern that was in place for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and previous European Championships.
BBC will show England's opening Euros match against Serbia with coverage beginning on BBC One from 19:00 BST on Sunday.
You can find the full Euro 2024 TV schedule here.
Last Updated 16th June 2024 at 02:02
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This will be England and Serbia’s first encounter since the latter re-emerged as an independent state in 2006. In fact, since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, England have only faced Serbia and Montenegro once in 2003, winning 2-1 in an international friendly.
England are unbeaten in their last six matches against Serbia/Yugoslavia, winning each of their last four. Their last defeat was against Yugoslavia in the semi-finals of EURO 1968.
As an independent nation, Serbia have qualified for a UEFA EURO tournament for the first time. They competed as Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia in five editions previously, finishing as runners-up on two occasions in 1960 and 1968.
Serbia’s most recent UEFA EURO finals appearance was in 2000 as FR Yugoslavia, reaching the quarter-finals before losing 6-1 to the Netherlands. It remains the only time a nation has conceded six goals in a UEFA EURO match.
33% of Serbia’s goals in UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying were headers (5 out of 15), the highest ratio amongst any team that have reached the finals in Germany.
England are taking part in their 11th UEFA European Championship – no team has played as many games in the tournament without ever winning it (38 matches).
Penalty shoot-outs excluded, England have lost only one of their last 18 games at the European Championship (W10 D7) – it was against Iceland in the round of 16 of the 2016 edition (1-2).
England topped their UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying group with 20 points, six ahead of Italy in second place, winning six and drawing two games. It is the eighth consecutive major qualifying group they have finished in first place, since failing to qualify for EURO 2008 after coming third in that qualifying campaign.
No European player has scored more goals than England’s Harry Kane across the last three major international tournaments, 12 in total (6 at WC 2018, 4 at EURO 2020, 2 at WC 2022). The only other player to match that tally is France’s Kylian Mbappé.
Head-coach Gareth Southgate will be leading England at a fourth major tournament after World Cup 2018 (4th place), EURO 2020 (2nd) and World Cup 2022 (quarter-finalists). At Euro 1996, he was one of only three England players to play all 510 minutes alongside David Seaman and Tony Adams – he missed a penalty in the semi-final shoot-out against Germany.
Current head-coach Dragan Stojković has made the most appearances of any Serbian player at the UEFA EURO finals, playing seven times across the 1984 and 2000 tournaments for Yugoslavia, scoring once.
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