England manager Gareth Southgate said his side must be “exceptional” to end a 58-year major tournament title drought as they kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday, after the Netherlands grabbed a late 2-1 win over Poland.
England must cope with the pressure of being hyped as one of the favourites for the tournament as Southgate aims to finally steer a richly-talented generation to glory.
Tens of thousands of England supporters have arrived in Gelsenkirchen, in western Germany, eager to see a show from their team after a shock 1-0 defeat by Iceland in their final warm-up match.
Wout Weghorst struck in the 83rd minute, just two minutes after coming on as a substitute, to secure the Netherlands an opening Group D victory against Poland, who were without the injured Robert Lewandowski.
“I am very happy. This is indescribable, especially at a final tournament. So special. This is personally a dream scenario,” said Weghorst.
“The absolute goal is to win that cup together.”
Dutch fans packed the streets of Hamburg, creating an orange wall of noise hours before kick-off.
It was the Poland supporters whose voices echoed around the Volksparkstadion when Adam Buksa headed their team in front early on, but Cody Gakpo levelled an entertaining encounter before the half-hour mark with the aid of a deflection.
