As the old saying goes, it’s not how you start, but how you finish.
England will be hoping to prove this maxim true on Sunday evening by ending Euro 2024 as champions after being the subject of near-unanimous criticism in the group stage.
Amid pedestrian play, England scored just two goals in Group C, as they followed up their opening win over Serbia by plodding to draws against Denmark and Slovenia.
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But a series of steady improvements during the knockout phase has seen the Three Lions reach a second consecutive European Championship final and former England striker Ian Wright believes that this means the nation’s 58-year wait for a major trophy is about to come to an end.
“I’m predicting an England win in the final,” Wright told Stick to Football: The Overlap Special from Sky Bet. “The reason I’m going for an England victory isn’t just due to us getting good fortune, but I just feel that we’ve continually improved as the tournament has gone on and Spain will give us the opportunity to play, and I feel that this might be the time for someone like Harry Kane to take that chance.
“I feel that for us to get to this point without playing well, which we’ll need to, to beat Spain, but I do believe we’ve got the capability to because they may take us for granted and we’ll punish them.”
England have displayed a never-say-die attitude in the knockout rounds, coming from behind to win in the last-16, quarters and semis and remarkably did not have a 90th-minute lead in any of these clashes.
This is in contrast to a Spain side that have won all six games they have played in Germany as they look to win a record-breaking fourth European title.
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