Gareth Southgate: My England players showed resilience to reach Euro final

Gareth Southgate praised his players for the resilience they have shown after England progressed to the European Championships Final.

The Three Lions conceded their first goal of the tournament when Mikkel Damsgaard’s brilliant free-kick flew into the top corner.

England were level nine minutes later when Simon Kjaer turned into his own net, before Harry Kane tapped home in extra time to send England into the Euros final.

Speaking to ITV, former Crystal Palace defender Southgate said: “I’m so proud of the players, it was an incredible occasion to be part of.

“The fans were incredible all night, we knew it wouldn’t be straightforward, the game the other night was very straightforward.

“We told the players after the Ukraine game, that they will have to show some resilience and come back from set-backs at some point, and we did that tonight.

“I haven’t seen the penalty decision back. But Raheem Sterling was a real thorn in their side all night.

“There is nobody you would rather have on the penalty than Harry Kane, but he is up against a great goalkeeper but thankfully that’s now immaterial.

“I always felt we would get there, but I knew we would have a different type of battle. Denmark are so under-rated as a team and they caused us a lot of problems tonight.

“The most pleasing thing is we have given our fans and our nation a fantastic night and the journey carries on for another four days.

“To come through this sort of a night, we suffered in another night like this in Moscow against Croatia and we’ve managed to put that right. We’re in a final, we have to enjoy that, there’s one more massive hurdle to try and conquer.

“Italy are a very good side. I’ve thought for the last couple of years they have shown outstanding form and have defensive warriors that have been through everything so it’s a great game to look forward too.

“We’ve had three memorable games on the bounce now, and we have said we want to create history for our nation.

“Finals are there to be won. We have to regroup and prepare properly, we have to recover, because tonight has taken a lot physically and emotionally but Italy have also had that.”