Jamie Carragher believes Gareth Southgate needs to win the Euro 2024 final against Spain to be considered among England's most successful managers.
Southgate has led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, and they face Spain in Berlin on Sunday, targeting an end to their 58-year wait for an international honour.
In reaching the showpiece at this year's tournament, England have now made more major tournament finals in four attempts under Southgate (two), than they did in their first 23 appearances at the World Cups and Euros combined (one) before his tenure.
But for much of England's time in Germany, Southgate has come under fire for his defensive approach, though only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) have overseen more England goals than his 212.
England's quarter-final win over Switzerland was his 100th game in charge, becoming the third Three Lions boss to bring up three figures, after Winterbottom (139 games between 1946 and 1962) and World Cup winner Ramsey (133 between 1963 and 1974).
The Three Lions needed penalties to get past Murat Yakin's men, and for just the second time in their 10th shoot-out at a major tournament, England scored every single one of their penalties (5/5), also doing so against Spain at Euro 96 (4/4), a tournament that ended with Southgate missing a semi-final spot-kick versus Germany.
Southgate's side showed further resilience in the last four as Ollie Watkins' goal sealed a comeback win over the Netherlands, becoming the first side in European Championship history to reach the final despite trailing in both the quarter-final and semi-final.
Since his appointment in 2018, England have won 61 matches under him, drawing 24 and losing 16. His 60.4% win ratio puts him fifth among all Three Lions managers, after Sam Allardyce (100%), Fabio Capello (66.7%), Ramsey (61.1%) and Glenn Hoddle (60.7%).
Many have hailed Southgate as England's most successful boss in recent days, but Carragher feels he must lift a trophy to be considered alongside Ramsey.
"No more gallant losers. England must change that tired 58-year-old script and win the European Championship on Sunday night to turn a good tournament into a truly successful one," Carragher wrote in a column for The Telegraph.
"For too long we have been the world’s biggest underachievers at major events. There has been too much credit afforded for penalty shoot-out defeats in semi-finals, or even at the last Euros when the loss could not camouflage that the Italians were there for the taking and ought to have been beaten.
"Further back, Italia 90 is viewed like it was some kind of golden era of English football, when in truth we didn’t play great for most of the tournament and lost to the first decent team we played.
"In the build-up to the Spain match, there are worrying signs that this undercurrent lingers. Not from the players, but from some elements of England’s support who are already content, no matter the outcome.
"The ‘minimum requirement’ was achieved with a semi-final place, with anything more seen as a bonus. This is the language of the plucky underdog. Spain will love it every time they hear an England fan express such a view.
"Here is another example of a lack of winning mentality. The question was asked over the past few days if Gareth Southgate is England’s most successful coach because he has led the country to two finals, including the first on foreign soil.
"Sorry, but he is not. Southgate needs to match Sir Alf Ramsey and win a trophy to be worthy of that description. Beat Spain and this conversation can be started.
"England’s display against the Dutch was a wonderful anomaly, not part of a trend. Everyone can see that and Southgate was rightly lauded for getting the big decisions 100 per cent right. That does not mean every move he made before that should be re-evaluated. Coaches, like their teams, can evolve over time."
Injury forces Militao out of Brazil's World Cup qualifiers
Eder Militao will miss Brazil's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru due to a thigh injury.
The defender, who also missed September's fixtures due to a leg injury, first felt some discomfort against Atletico Madrid on September 29.
Though he has featured for Real Madrid since, he flew out to Sao Paulo to undergo checks on the issue, where the national team confirmed the extent of the injury.
"[Militao] underwent tests this Sunday... which revealed a minor muscle injury in his left thigh that will prevent him from playing," the CBF said in a statement.
He is the second Madrid player to pull out of the Brazil squad, with Vinicius Junior also unfit to play after suffering a neck injury.
Brazil sit fifth in South America's qualification table after eight matches, with 10 points.
England 'realistic' about chances in Pakistan, says McCullum
Brendon McCullum says England are going into their three-match Test series against Pakistan with "realistic" expectations, and anticipates a tough test from their hosts.
England became the first side to achieve a 3-0 clean sweep in Pakistan during their last tour in 2022.
And Pakistan have had no success on home soil in the last two years, with a 1-0 defeat by Australia in early 2022 setting off a 10-match winless run, with Bangladesh the latest to triumph against them.
England are without captain Ben Stokes though, as he was ruled out of the first Test after failing to recover from a hamstring tear in time.
Despite recent history suggesting England may just have an edge, McCullum is taking nothing for granted.
"We go in with high hopes," McCullum told BBC Sport. "There will be no excuses whatsoever if we don't get where we need to get.
"We're also realistic this is going to be a tough series, because Pakistan in their own conditions, as history would suggest, it's a tough ask."
McCullum also brushed off concerns he was worried about not having James Anderson, who has been acting as their fast-bowling consultant since his retirement, with them for the first day.
"Jimmy has been a great resource for us, but prior to that, we didn't have a pace-bowling coach as such," he added.
"In the world we live in, communication is easy. Jimmy is in constant communication with the guys. I don't think it's a big issue."
For Pakistan, Shan Masood has lost all five Tests since being appointed captain last November, including the 2-0 defeat to Bangladesh in August.
"There is a lot of hurt within the players," Masood said. "This year, 2024, has not been a good year for Pakistan cricket all over, and we like to see our fans happy.
"The answer is to be positive. We let the past go. We have tried to maintain consistency in selection. We haven't had any chopping and changing because we have lost a few games.
"We believe in this set of players and with Jason Gillespie we wanted to create a squad mentality. The players are being backed to turn things around."
The first Test between England and Pakistan begins on Monday in Multan.
Brighton 3-2 Tottenham: Rutter inspires remarkable Seagulls comeback
Brighton managed a remarkable second-half comeback as Georginio Rutter scored one and played a key role for another in a thrilling 3-2 home victory over Tottenham.
Ange Postecoglou's visitors had won their last five games, including their EFL Cup and Europa League exploits, and started well on Sunday as in-form Brennan Johnson scored for a sixth straight outing.
James Maddison doubled the away side's lead before the interval, aided by Bart Verbruggen's handling blunder, but Yankuba Minteh halved that deficit after the restart with a thumping finish.
Destiny Udogie was somewhat at fault for Minteh's finish, and the Spurs defence again struggled as Rutter restored parity before the hour mark after dancing around a couple of defenders.
Former Leeds United star Rutter then edged past numerous Tottenham charges once more, with his cross deflecting up for Danny Welbeck to head in the 66th-minute winner and seal a memorable turnaround.
Verbruggen was still required to deny Udogie late on, however, as Fabian Hurzeler's side held on for a victory that lifted them to sixth and ended Spurs' impressive winning run.
Data Debrief: Johnson's heroics in vain
Johnson has now scored in each of his last six appearances in all competitions, becoming the first Spurs player to do so since departed talisman Harry Kane between December 2018 and January 2019.
The winger's six goals across 10 appearances this season are also more than he managed in 34 outings for Spurs last campaign, though Johnson's efforts proved ultimately in vain.
Sunday marked the 10th time that Tottenham have lost a Premier League game in which they led by two or more goals – they are the first club to hit double figures for this, and have done so three more times than any other club in the competition's history.
Indeed, this memorable turnaround saw Brighton win a league game after trailing by two or more goals at half-time for the first time since a 3-2 victory against Charlton in the Championship in December 2015.
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