John Barnes has warned England they will face an even tougher task to end over 50 years of hurt at Euro 2020 than they faced at the World Cup in Russia.
Expectation is high after the Three Lions’ run to the World Cup semi-finals last summer, which saw supporters fall in love with their national team again after decades of disappointment.
And, with Wembley Stadium confirmed to host both semi-final games AND the final, many are tipping Gareth Southgate’s men as one of the favourites for the title.
GETTY
2
Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick in England’s opening qualifier
England kicked off their qualification campaign in fine style with a 5-0 victory over the Czech Republic last week, and another victory is expected when they travel to take on Montenegro on Monday night – which is LIVE on talkSPORT!
THIS WEEK ON talkSPORT
- MONDAY 25TH MARCH
19:45 Montenegro v England – Euro 2020 Qualifier – talkSPORT
19:45 France v Iceland – Euro 2020 Qualifier –Â talkSPORT 2 - TUESDAY 26TH MARCH
19:45 Czech Republic v Brazil – International Friendly –Â talkSPORT 2 - FRIDAY 29TH MARCH
20:00 West Brom v Birmingham – Championship –Â talkSPORT 2 - SATURDAY 30TH MARCH
15:00 Brighton v Southampton – Premier League –Â talkSPORT 2
17:30 West Ham v Everton – Premier League –Â talkSPORT
But, Barnes has urged fans not to set the team up for a fall, telling the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: “It’s much harder to win the European Championships than the World Cup.â€
Russia gave us a taste of how competitive next year’s tournament could be. Of the eight teams that progressed to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, only two – Brazil and Uruguay – were from outside of Europe, and both failed to progress to the semis.
England, meanwhile, were given a straightforward route through to the knock-out stages and failed to beat any of the top opposition they faced, having lost against Belgium in their group and suffered a semi-final exit to Croatia, before again losing to Belgium in a third place play-off.
2
England suffered World Cup heartbreak against Croatia, but their run to the semi-finals got fans on side again
Barnes added: “In the World Cup, as England showed, you can get in a group with Tunisia and Panama which means you go through, then you get to play against a weakened Colombia…
“Whereas any team who qualifies for the Euros are a strong team, and any team that goes through to the last 16 is going to be even stronger, so I would argue that it’s harder to win.
“The first two times we came up against decent teams at the World Cup, Belgium and Croatia, we lost.
LATEST FOOTBALL NEWS
“So we can’t expect to win the European Championships. It’s going to be a difficult competition.
“You can’t ask any more from Gareth. I think we’ll qualify and qualify well, I think we’ll go through the group and then, depending on who we get in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, I think we can go on as we could have in the World Cup.â€
Listen back to John Barnes on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast IN FULL above
22 things England need to do to win in 2022 approach yielded a rush of chances in England's World Cup group games, but that attacking bravado occasionally went missing when the going got
Barnes saves Leicester point at West Ham (video)
Investors lap up Italian debt despite European Commission warning to the likeable England team that reached the World Cup semi-final Regis, Paul Ince, John Barnes, Ian Wright. Some laughed
1986 FIFA World Cup - Wikipedia
John Barnes sends England warning: 'It's harder to win
John Barnes reprised his famous World in Motion rap for Watford fans on Tuesday evening. The former England star was at Vicarage Road promoting Elton John's biopic Rocketman and led a sing-along
Jordan Henderson admits Liverpool's Champions League win took
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. With European nations not allowed to host after the previous World Cup in Spain, Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially resigned in 1982.
Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast - Page 5 - talkSPORT
John Barnes has warned England they will face an even tougher task to end over 50 years of hurt at Euro 2020 than they faced at the World Cup in Russia. Expectation is high after the Three Lions
John Barnes belts out World in Motion rap for Watford fans
Jun 01, 2019 · England's World Cup send-off party ended up providing a last-minute dose of reality for Phil Neville's team 01 Jun 2019 , 2:57pm Concerns grow for England after defeat to lowly New Zealand in
England Shakes Its Shootout Curse and Saves Its World Cup
Apr 20, 2019 · The inside track: After finishing third in a World Cup (2015) and reaching the semifinals of the European Championship (2017) just two years apart, England enter this summer's showpiece a trendy
Liverpool kings of Europe for sixth time as Mohamed Salah and
Jordan Henderson admits it was tough to prepare for England's Nations League semi-final against Holland after lifting the Champions League trophy five days earlier. Defensive errors were the main
Raheem Sterling: the England football star who took on the
WARNING 'It's harder to win European Championship than the World Cup', says John Barnes World Cup glory still well within reach for England, insists Joe Marler
22 things England need to do to win in 2022 - msn.com
Jul 03, 2018 · The exits since then have seemed to alternate between galling failure (a loss to tiny Iceland at the 2016 European Championship) and utter humiliation (a group-stage exit from the 2014 World Cup
No comments:
Post a Comment