England manager Gareth Southgate said that his side is now ready to make “history”, as they prepare for a Wednesday semi-final against the Netherlands.Southgate admitts his team “couldn’t quite get ourselves in the right place” until know, but still managed to get past Slovakia (after the extra time) and Switzerland (after the penalty shootout).”One of our strengths over the years has been having less fear, showing less inhibition,” Southgate said.”But at the beginning of the tournament, the expectation weighed heavily, and the noise from outside had never been louder.”Better than all the rest: Kane and Bellingham are OK, but Pickford is a true heroCaptain Harry Kane said the team “use past experiences to help” when they approach “tough” games like Wednesday’s semi-final.”I just think during the game you lean on experience, the leaders who have been there and done that,” Kane said. “Ultimately, it’s about going out there and taking the opportunity with both hands.”Reaching back-to-back European Championship finals would be an amazing achievement and we have the opportunity to go and do that.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8203995##He added: “Some will use it in different ways, some will use it as motivation, some will just block it out and focus on what they need to do. Everyone’s different.”From a team point of view, we know what we need to achieve. We have a really important game, a really tough game we need to be ready for. We’ve prepared for that.”EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – 1/2 FINALSSemifinalsTuesdaySpain – France IN PROGRESSWednesday22.00: (3.15) Netherlands (3.10) England (2.60)***odds are subject to change***
