England begin Euro 2024 quest, Dutch edge Poland

Netherlands’ midfielder #14 Tijani Reijnders (R) fights for the ball with Poland’s midfielder #06 Jakub Piotrowski (2nd R) during the UEFA Euro 2024 Group D football match between Poland and the Netherlands at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on June 16, 2024. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

England manager Gareth Southgate said his side must be “exceptional” to end a 58-year major tournament title drought as they kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday, after the Netherlands grabbed a late 2-1 win over Poland.

England must cope with the pressure of being hyped as one of the favourites for the tournament as Southgate aims to finally steer a richly-talented generation to glory.

Tens of thousands of England supporters have arrived in Gelsenkirchen, in western Germany, eager to see a show from their team after a shock 1-0 defeat by Iceland in their final warm-up match.

Wout Weghorst struck in the 83rd minute, just two minutes after coming on as a substitute, to secure the Netherlands an opening Group D victory against Poland, who were without the injured Robert Lewandowski.

“I am very happy. This is indescribable, especially at a final tournament. So special. This is personally a dream scenario,” said Weghorst.

“The absolute goal is to win that cup together.”

Dutch fans packed the streets of Hamburg, creating an orange wall of noise hours before kick-off.

It was the Poland supporters whose voices echoed around the Volksparkstadion when Adam Buksa headed their team in front early on, but Cody Gakpo levelled an entertaining encounter before the half-hour mark with the aid of a deflection.

Gakpo, Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries all went close as the missed chances piled up for the Oranje, and Ronald Koeman’s men looked to be running out of ideas until Weghorst swooped to slot home a deserved winner.

The Dutch, the 1988 winners, are hoping to end a poor recent Euros record, having not even reached the quarter-finals since 2008.

They will now be confident of at least making the knockout phase, with group matches against France and Austria to come.

Earlier, police shot and injured a man who threatened them with an axe and a Molotov cocktail in Hamburg before kick-off, although a police spokesman said there was no indication the incident was linked to the game.

– England hoping for fast start –
England are aiming to make amends after losing the final of Euro 2020 to Italy on home soil at Wembley.

Under Southgate they have also come close at two World Cups and the England boss has acknowledged this could his final opportunity for major tournament success.

But strong performances from Germany and Spain in winning their opening games have shown the scale of the task awaiting England.

“There are a lot of good teams in this tournament. We have to be exceptional to progress through the group and have the opportunity to go further,” said Southgate at his pre-match press conference.

“Our focus is to qualify from the group. When you’re trying to achieve exceptional things you have to break it down into chunks.”

Despite a remarkable goalscoring record at club and international level, England captain Harry Kane is yet to win a major trophy in his career.

“Winning a trophy for your country would be the pinnacle of every career,” said Kane, who scored 44 times in his debut season at Bayern Munich.

England are expected to cruise through Group C, which also contains Denmark and Slovenia, who face each other earlier on Sunday in Stuttgart.

– Mitrovic threat –
There is little for Southgate to fear based on Serbia’s performance in qualifying.

Dragan Stojkovic’s side won just four of their eight qualifiers, losing twice to Hungary and being held on both occasions by Bulgaria.

However, they have a striker in form in Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is well known to Premier League fans from his eight years in England with Newcastle United and Fulham.

Mitrovic has scored 40 goals in 43 games since joining Saudi side Al Hilal, helping them to an unbeaten domestic treble.

“He’s an outstanding goalscorer,” said Southgate.

The match has been declared as “high risk” by German police.

Supporters will only be able to access reduced-strength beer at the Arena AufSchalke.

England’s opening game at Euro 2016 against Russia saw running battles between hooligans.

The Euro 2020 final was also marred by ugly scenes as ticketless fans stormed the entrances to Wembley.

Hooliganism has also been a recurring theme at Serbian international matches and both managers called on the fans to enjoy what Southgate described as a “carnival of football”.