Sir Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany at Wembley to help England men’s team win their only major trophy, spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast about England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
According to the legendary footballer acknowledged Luis de la Fuente’s men as the finest team of UEFA Euro 2024 while hailing the “”fantastic” achievement of manager Gareth Southgate.
“We played the best team at the tournament, it’s a one-off game and like everyone else in the country I was bitterly disappointed about losing the game,” said the 82-year-old former West Ham striker.
“But you’ve got to look at it overall – two Euros finals, semi finals of a World Cup. Under Gareth Southgate, it’s been absolutely fantastic.
“We’ve got a group of young players who are young enough to play in the next tournament and, of course, that’s where it all starts, at grassroots level. We had the third youngest side [in the tournament] but with a lot of experience.
“I’m not going to be negative – I’m bitterly disappointed, but my view around Southgate is that it’s a very stressful job.
“My own personal view is that he [Southgate] will say ‘enough is enough’ because that’s a long time in an incredibly stressful job, managing the national team.”, he concluded.
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