Arsenal and France legend Patrick Vieira has picked out the three most important players for Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2024.
Heading into the tournament, which will begin with hosts Germany taking on Scotland on Friday night, England are one of the favourites to go all the way.
Southgate will be hoping to finally lead the Three Lions to glory after agonisingly missing out via a penalty shootout three years ago at Wembley.
On the latest episode of Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet, Vieira joined the likes of Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright to chat about his career as a player and manager.
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Speaking about the upcoming Euro 2024, Vieira was asked whether he thinks France will win the tournament.
He said: “I think France are favourites. I don’t see any other nation who can beat France outside of England.”
When asked about how England can beat France, Vieira explained: “In one game anything can happen, obviously they have the talented players to do it. I am amazed by Phil Foden with what he has been doing.
“You have quality with (Jude) Bellingham. I also think it will depend on how (Harry) Kane will be in the competition, because you will need some upfront who can score those goals. But I think England will have good chance to be there with France.”
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However, England’s preparations ahead of the tournament suffered a huge blow after they were beaten by Iceland at Wembley in their final pre-tournament friendly.
Speaking after the match, Southgate said: “It was obviously a disjointed and disappointing performance and we didn’t show enough character. But actually, I think it’s a really good focus for us ahead of the tournament.
“Everyone is saying we’re going to go there and walk through and have no problems. But the reality of international football isn’t that. We’ve got to be far better without the ball than we were today, and then we’ve got to show more composure than we’ve shown with the ball.”
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England begin their Euro 2024 journey this Sunday against Serbia.
Patrick Vieira was speaking on Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet.
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Topics: Patrick Vieira, England, Gareth Southgate, Euro 2024, Football
Marcus Chan