GARY LINEKER BREAKS 20-YEAR TRADITION WITH ENGLAND PREDICTION AS EX-THREE LIONS STRIKER MAKES BOLD TROPHY CLAIM
- Quest for continental glory about to begin
- Southgate's squad is loaded with talent
- Opportunity to end international heartache
WHAT LINEKER SAID
Lineker believes as much, with a man who hit 48 goals for his country and helped them to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1990, telling The Rest is Football podcast: “People say to me, ‘you always pick England, you always do’ – I haven’t tipped England to win a tournament since 2004. But this time, I actually think England will go all the way. Obviously it’s a knockout tournament so things can go wrong but I think we will win one of the next four tournaments because this team is only going to get better and better.”
WHAT NEXT FOR ENGLAND?
England have not enjoyed the best of preparations for Euros duty, having suffered a shock defeat to Iceland in their final warm-up game, but Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham has joined Harry Kane and Co in Southgate’s ranks since then and the countdown is on to a tournament opener against Serbia on Sunday.