Marcus Rashford feels the experience of the 2018 World Cup will see England succeed at the European Championships this summer, with the young squad having learned from their remarkable run to the semi-finals three years ago.
Rashford was part of Gareth Southgate’s squad which made it to the final four in Russia, eventually falling to Croatia in the semis.
The Manchester United forward will be in the squad again this summer as England look to win the Euros for the first time, and the talented Three Lions outfit go in as one of the favourites to lift the trophy on 11 July.
England seemed to run out of steam three years ago, taking an early lead in the semi-final but petering out to a 2-1 defeat after extra-time.
It was England’s first major semi-final since Euro ’96, though, and Rashford feels that experience – along with some exciting additions to the squad over the last couple of years – will play a big part in the team’s success this time around.
‘We’ve got a good chance,’ Rashford told Men’s Health UK. ‘The talent and ability in the team is as high as I have seen it.
‘A lot of it is down to self-belief. I was speaking to some of the players and I think the only thing that stopped us last time was entering that element of the unknown.
‘We hadn’t been that far as a team before and we didn’t know what to expect…I feel like we’ve learnt from those experiences, plus we’ve got a few new talented faces in the squad. We’re looking at a really good balance and you need balance to win trophies.
‘We’re definitely more prepared now. If we go into a semi-final again we will control it much better – 100 per cent. We’ll try and play our football. Last time it just turned into “attack, attack, attack” and we stopped doing the basics.
‘I feel like we’ve learned from it and we’re a lot more capable of doing greater things now.’
Another unquestionable bonus for England is that all their group games will be played at Wembley, and the possibility of lifting the title having played just one game outside the country.
Both semi-finals and the final are held in north London and Rashford is aware of how fortunate England are to be in this situation.
‘It’s a massive, massive advantage,’ he said. ‘To play so many games at our home stadium and hopefully in front of our home fans – that’s just not going to happen again. So everyone is excited and ready.
‘The main thing is to get yourself physically prepared because it’s tough – you play so many games during the season and then the tournament comes straight after…It’s something I’m so excited for and I believe in what the manager, the staff and the players can do.’
England’s squad for the Euros will be announced at 1pm on Tuesday 25 May.
Read the full Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge interview in the June issue of Men’s Health UK, on sale from 26th May
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