‘This is England’s time’ says Roberto Mancini as Three Lions tipped to finally break trophy hoodoo at Euro 2024
ROBERTO MANCINI says now MUST be the time for England to finally break their trophy hoodoo.
The former Italy boss masterminded their Euro 2020 final win over the Three Lions at Wembley as the visitors recovered from going behind to Luke Shaw’s early goal to win a penalty shootout.
But Mancini, now in charge of Saudi Arabia, believes England are running out of excuses for not ending their 58-year major trophy drought.
He said: “In England at this moment, there are many very good players.
“I don’t know if there’s a comparison with the time that [David] Beckham, [Wayne] Rooney and [Paul] Scholes were around but they have very good players, great talent.
“It’s very good for them [Jude] Bellingham plays for Real Madrid as I really think he can improve more there as a player. He is one of the very good players England have developed in the past five years and they have a lot of really good attacking players
“But now is the time when they have to show that and win, whether that’s in the European Championships next summer or the World Cup.
“This is the time for them, the moment for them to show that they are a team that can win these major trophies.”
Mancini also recognises the critical importance of Bayern Munich superstar Harry Kane to England.
He added: “I like Kane, very much. Some people ask if Kane is a No 9 or a No 10 — and he’s both. He can play everywhere.
“There are not many who can do what he does as well, he’s a real talent.
“Yes, I beat England in that final and it was a fantastic game of football.
“We played very well but I think England have developed since then, they are a better team now.”