Phil Neville hails Southgate as ‘a leader of great men'
England were stopped in their last step toward winning the Euro 2020 title as the Three Lions were beaten on penalties by Italy, after being held to a 1-1 draw at Wembley.
Southgate
led the Three Lions to their first major tournament final in 55 years, and despite
suffering a penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy, the tournament represented England's best performance in the competition as they topped Group D before overcoming rivals Germany 2-0 in the round of 16.
Ex-England and Manchester United defender, Phil Neville, who guided England Women to the 2019 World Cup semi-finals, played alongside Southgate at Euro 96 as Terry Venables' side reached the semi-finals.
Giving his verdicts in
an MLS press conference, the
Inter Miami
boss said when he was asked whether he watched the Euro 2020 final match with other English players and staff members: “I hate watching games with other people. I like watching alone so I can make my own opinions, curse, smash the TV, throw my water bottle down. I’ve got to say, I went through every emotion in that game. I was physically and mentally drained at the end of it and devastated because I’ve worked closely with [England coach] Gareth Southgate and he’s done an incredible job.”
“Gareth Southgate is a leader of great men,” he added. “Why is he a leader of great men? Because he can connect with people.
“He connected a footballing set of supporters and team that probably didn’t like each other for a long period of time — and I experienced that as a player. I played in England teams where we didn’t have cohesion, team spirit, togetherness, and that’s why we always failed.
“Now, everybody wants to play for England, everybody wants to support England. The joy which you saw in that stadium was like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
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