Euro 2024: England draw talk shows 'entitlement' - Southgate - ESPN

Gareth Southgate has dismissed suggestions that England have been handed the easier half of the Euro 2024 knockouts draw, saying the mentality shows «a sense of entitlement» that annoys other nations.

England face Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday, with the winner set to face either Turkey or the Netherlands in the semifinals. Meanwhile, France, Portugal, Spain and Germany made up the opposite bracket.

«I would say that's a classic example of the sort of entitlement we have as a nation that creates drama and annoys our opponents,» said Southgate, who will take charge of England for the 100th time on Saturday.

«We're playing a really strong football nation who have played exceptionally well prepared, have enormous pride.

»Our focus is on 'how do we win this game?' And 'how do we play it to the best of our ability?'

«We've never been to a final outside England. We've only had two finals in our history, three semifinals, so lots of nations who we might perceive as English people to be smaller have had far better records than us in terms of winning things, in terms of getting to the latter stages of finals. It's half the problem we have.

»But we're ready for tomorrow. As a team, we definitely have huge respect for our opponents and we know we've got to be our very best to be able to win the game."

Southgate vowed England would show an improved level against Switzerland, having attracted criticism from their own fans for a series of underwhelming displays despite reaching the quarterfinals.

«There's been a lot of expectation on the team in the early part of the tournament especially,» he said. «I feel that the team even in training now look in a different place, mentally. They look more fluid and I'm expecting us