Gareth Southgate was not ready to make a decision on his England future in the immediate aftermath of the team’s defeat to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
Goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal, either side of a superb Cole Palmer equaliser, gave Spain a 2-1 win and saw them win the tournament for a fourth time.
Southgate continued his impressive record as England boss by reaching consecutive European Championship finals, but he remains without silverware after semi-final and quarter-final runs in his two World Cup campaigns.
Whether he will stay on behind this tournament is unclear at this stage and the England manager did little to clear up the situation after the game.
England suffer Euro 2024 final heartbreak to Spain – as it happened
‘I don’t think now is a good time to make a decision like that,’ Southgate told ITV. ‘I’ve got to talk to the right people. It’s just not for now.’
Southgate believes that the current squad has a good chance at the next World Cup in America, Canada and Mexico, and in the European Championship to follow, although he may not be at either.
‘I think England are in a really good position in terms of the experiences they’ve got now, the age of the squad,’ he said. ‘Most of this squad are going to be around, not only for the World Cup, but for the next Euros as well. So there’s a lot to look forward to. But at this moment that’s not any consolation.’
England captain Harry Kane had a similar response to his manager when asked about Southgate’s future.
‘That’s not for now, that’s Gareth’s decision,’ said Kane, who was substituted after 60 minutes. ‘He’ll go away and take time on that. It’s disappointing that we couldn’t win it for him. We wanted so badly to win it for him.’
Kane added: ‘It’s an opportunity missed. These finals aren’t easy to get to. We’re shown unbelievable resilience and character to get to where we are but ultimatelyyou have to take it when it comes and we haven’t done it again. It’s extremely painful and it’ll hurt for a long, long time.’
Southgate said of Spain: ‘I thought they were the best team in the tournament.
‘We didn’t quite keep the ball well enough, but we were right in it until the last 10 minutes. I’m devastated for everybody really.’
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