GARY NEVILLE MAKES ENGLAND EURO 2024 PREDICTION AHEAD OF QUARTER-FINAL CLASH

Gary Neville admits he ‘cannot make sense’ of England’s performances at Euro 2024 but says his ‘heart is over-riding my head’, backing the Three Lions to go deep in the tournament.

England face their toughest task so far in the Euros on Saturday when they take on Switzerland for a place in the semi-finals.

Gareth Southgate’s side topped Group C despite labouring to a 1-0 victory over Serbia and then failing to beat Denmark and Slovenia, before they needed a dramatic turnaround to beat Slovakia in the first knockout round.

Slovakia frustrated toothless England for over an hour after taking the lead on 25 minutes and were seconds away from a stunning victory before Jude Bellingham took the game to extra-time with a late overhead kick.

England’s momentum carried over into extra-time, with Harry Kane scoring in the first minute of the first-half before the Three Lions held on to reach the quarters.

Neville has conflicting feelings ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final against Switzerland but ultimately still believes England are capable of winning the Euros.

‘I cannot make sense of England,’ he wrote in The Overlap newsletter. ‘My head says they’re heading home on Saturday, certainly if they perform like they have in the first four games.

‘And yet my heart says something is happening… A last-minute wonder goal changes the dynamic even if that makes no sense.

‘If you’ve played badly for four games, the chances are you will do so again. If you hardly created any goalscoring chances, the likelihood is you will fail again in the next match. 

‘So why should Jude Bellingham’s overhead goal make all the difference? Rationally it won’t. England played their worst football of the Gareth Southgate era on Sunday night. Yet emotionally it changes everything. 

‘Let’s be clear, England perform like they did against Slovakia when they play Switzerland on Saturday and they will be well and truly beaten. 

‘Switzerland are a much better side than anyone they have faced, with Serie A, Premier League and Bundesliga winners at the heart of their line up. Crucially they have something England clearly lack, which is a clear system everyone buys into. 

‘So at the moment my heart and head are wrestling with each other. My head tells me performance matters, that eventually you run out of road in a tournament when you’re not creating chances. 

‘England aren’t gelling, we’re not seeing any coached patterns of play, they’re passive on the pitch and passive off it, in the lack of substitutions and interventions Gareth Southgate is making. 

‘But something happened. Results matter. Whatever you say about Southgate’s subs – and no-one could understand it – Bellingham and Harry Kane were on the pitch to deliver. Is this the near-miss event that jolts them to their senses? 

‘At the end of a fortnight, they still have one of the best squads here and a game to make the semi finals. They remain within touching distance of history. Of destiny. My heart is over-riding my head. This can still happen.’

The other Euro 2024 quarter-finals include two mouth-watering clashes between tournament hosts Germany and in-form Spain, and World Cup runners-up France and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

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2024-07-03T16:40:17Z dg43tfdfdgfd