England are hosted by Denmark at Euro 2024

GERMANY:

Gareth Southgate admitted England must improve if they are to win Euro 2024 after failing to secure a place in the knockout stages with a 1-1 draw against Denmark on Thursday.

A point was the least the Danes deserved as England again flattered to deceive in Frankfurt after a crushing 1-0 win over Serbia to open their tournament.

Harry Kane had given the Three Lions an early lead as England pounced on a defensive error by Denmark.

Morten Hulmand’s rocket from outside the area equalized before half-time and Denmark were left to waste chances to secure a famous victory.

“There’s a huge amount of work to do, that’s been shown by the two performances we’ve given – it’s clearly not what we would have expected,” Southgate said.

“We understand that people will be disappointed with the performances and rightly so. We have to make them a lot better.”

England remain top of Group C, two points clear of Slovenia, who they face in Cologne on Tuesday, and Denmark.

Serbia’s late equalizer in their 1-1 draw with Slovenia earlier on Thursday also holds their fate in their own hands.

England need just one point to secure qualification and would win the group with a win in the final game of the division.

Southgate said on Wednesday that he avoids media coverage during tournaments to avoid negative stories.

However, he accepted there will be more criticism after another flat performance from one of the pre-tournament favourites.

Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel insisted on the eve of the match that they would not be fueled by revenge for their disappointment in England three years ago in the Euro 2020 semi-final.

However, the Danes were a different beast to the side that disappointed at the 2022 World Cup and drew against Slovenia to open their tournament in Germany.

Denmark had made the brighter start as both sides struggled to cope with a miserable pitch in Frankfurt which got ugly in just the second game of five at Euro 2024.

However, England capitalized on a screamer from Hjulmand’s men to take the lead on 18 minutes.

Victor Christiansen was unaware of Kyle Walker’s run down the right and his low deflected cross fell perfectly for Kane to curl in his 13th goal in major tournaments.

Failure to capitalize on an early 1-0 lead has been a constant criticism of England under Southgate.

This time Denmark were not deterred from conceding, although it took a spectacular strike to equalise.

Hjulmand was given too much space by England’s midfield to aim at, but he took full advantage of the long-range shot with a volley that clipped the inside of the post on its way in.

Phil Foden’s form for England has been the subject of much debate after he again failed to shine at international level against Serbia.

The Manchester City playmaker looked much more like the man who won the Premier League’s player of the year awards this season and came inches away from restoring England’s lead with a low drive that crashed off the post.

Southgate’s caution has been criticized in the past but he was bold with his changes in search of a winner as Kane, Foden and Bukayo Saka were sacrificed for Eberetsi Eze, Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen.

“We thought we needed to pick up speed and the energy in the front line was important,” Southgate added in explaining his decisions.

Watkins almost made an immediate impact as he was denied by Schmeichel after a superb through ball from Jude Bellingham.

However, it was Denmark who had the best chance of taking all three points in the final phase.

Andreas Christensen spooned over when he headed home from a corner before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg curled inches wide.

“I can’t say we’re disappointed, but it’s a shame. There was a result we could have had,” said Danish coach Hjulmand.