GARETH Southgate still looked a certainty to be knighted — despite last night’s defeat.
The manager, 53, took over a demoralised team who lost to Iceland in Euro 2016 — and led the Three Lions to two Euros finals and a World Cup semi.
Yesterday, England fan Paul Murray, 48, from Surrey, said: “Arise Sir Gareth. There’s no question he deserves it after turning English football around.”
Bookie Betfair said Southgate was a 2/1 bet to be knighted.
But the England boss was, inevitably subdued last night.
He said: “We competed until the very end of the final, but didn’t keep possession well enough. But they were the best team and deserved to win.”
Southgate inherited a grim legacy of flops and penalties pain which have come to define England as football’s eternal nearly men.
Long-suffering fans have endured agonising near misses, bad luck and catastrophic cock-ups ever since 1966 as the Three Lions became the eternal nearly men of world football.
Southgate took England’s reins on September 27, 2016 and within two years had built a confident, young team which got to within 22 minutes of a World Cup final in Moscow.
His battling lions faltered against Croatia and lost 2-1 but went on to beat the Germans on the way to the Euro 2020 final against Italy – where the penalties hoodoo struck again.
But the consistency and ability to “win ugly” has been the hallmark of this summer’s brilliant cup run – all the way to last night’s first ever foreign tournament final in Berlin.
