England manager Gareth Southgate has urged his players to finish the job they started in the winter of 2022 and win the Euro 2024 final on Sunday against Spain in Berlin.
"It has been a great environment to work in and now we have a fabulous opportunity to achieve what we set out (to do) really after we left Qatar earlier than we wanted to," Southgate said in a news conference on Saturday.
The Three Lions were eliminated by France at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after reaching the semi-finals in Russia in 2018.
England made it to their second consecutive final at an European Championship after heartbreak at Euro 2020 with a defeat on penalties to Italy at their home Wembley stadium.
"Whenever you lose a final, it's difficult to wipe from the memory. That moment was difficult, but it was three years ago (Euro 2020 was delayed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic). It's been a hard journey to get here, but now it's about executing the game plan. Now it's time to get over the line," captain Harry Kane said.
England are chasing a maiden Euros title and a first major trophy in 58 years, but will be faced with a big challenge. Three-time European champions Spain are considered the best team at the tournament in Germany and haven't lost a game so far.
Southgate confirmed his full 26-man squad are fit and raring to go and has been pleased with the way preparations have gone.
He said that he showed his squad pictures of Trafalgar Square celebrating previous successes for England’s rugby and cricket teams as a way to motivate his team.
"When you are trying to create dreams you want to have a clear picture of what you see at the end of it," Southgate said.
"I'm not a believer in fairy tales, but I am a believer in dreams. We've had big dreams but you have to make those things happen. The run we've had, the late goals, the penalties – that doesn't make it happen for us."
England have improved bit by bit throughout the tournament, but many doubts remain concerning the team who advanced after falling behind in all three knock-out stage games so far.
They are the first team in European Championship history to go behind in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals and still make the final, according to statisticians Opta.
"Sometimes you have to go through difficult nights as a team. We tried to change the mindset from the start; we tried to be more honest where we were as a nation. We had high expectations but they didn't match where we were performance-wise. Now the high expectations are still there, but we've had consistent performances," Southgate said.
Kane, who hasn't won any title with the national team nor on club level, said that he's "extremely excited to make a lot of people, including myself, very happy tomorrow night."
"Belief has grown as we've gone through the tournament. Our experiences build resilience and confidence," he said.
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