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Gareth Southgate highlights England 'threat' ahead of Euro 2020

England boss Gareth Southgate
England boss Gareth Southgate

England manager Gareth Southgate insists next summer's Euro 2020 tournament will not be about personal redemption.

The draw for next summer's finals, where England will play all three of their group matches at Wembley, takes place in Bucharest on Saturday.

England would also play their semi-final and the final at the iconic stadium should they make it that far and the tournament is sure to bring back memories of Euro 96, hosted entirely by England and a competition which ended in heartbreak for the hosts when Southgate missed a penalty in a semi-final shoot-out defeat to Germany.

He insists there will be no personal element to matching or bettering that achievement next summer, only satisfaction at the team securing success.

He told BBC Sport: "The tournament next summer is not about me and redemption. On a personal level the World Cup in Russia was, I guess, my own catharsis.

"Getting out of a penalty shootout (against Colombia) was something that was nice to do, but the team is about the players and our fans and it's more important we make them proud. We have to win matches to do that."

Southgate believes his England side will be a "threat" others will want to avoid in Saturday's draw.

The England boss took his side to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia in 2018 at a tournament where expectations were at their lowest in recent memory, but home advantage in the group phase in the Euros inevitably brings greater pressure.

Southgate feels his side's form makes them an opponent to be feared.

"I think we've gained some respect and I think people would view us as a threat, which certainly wasn't the case ahead of Russia," he said.

"We also know we have got to improve to another level. It's hard to assess exactly where we are after this qualifying campaign, but if we looked at the World Cup semi and the Nations League semi, we've done all we could in terms of qualifying with the most goals in Europe, so we are on a good track."

World champions France and European champions Portugal could both end up in the same group as England and Southgate believes picking a winner of the tournament is an extremely tough task.

"The difference on one day between any of the top 10 teams is so marginal in football," he added.

"It's different in rugby where only four of five are contenders, with us in the Euros it's always been more random than a World Cup - you could look at any one of 10 teams and think they could win it."

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