England have earned right to be favourites at Euro, says Kane

England captain Harry Kane said the Three Lions “are here to win” Euro 2024 as they aim to live up to the tag of pre-tournament favourites in their opening game against Serbia today. Kane was part of the England side that fell agonisingly short in the final of Euro 2020, losing on penalties to Italy on home soil, to prolong their drought without a major tournament win to 58 years.
Since then, the development of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka has helped form a fearsome attacking quartet, alongside Bayern Munich striker Kane. “Every tournament poses different expectations but we’ve earned the right to be classed as one of the favourites,” Kane told a pre-match press conference in Gelsenkirchen.
Under Gareth Southgate, England have also missed out by fine margins at the last two World Cups. They lost a semi-final to Croatia in extra-time in 2018 before Kane missed a late penalty in a 2-1 quarter-final defeat to France at Qatar 2022.
“We look at ourselves individually and as a team and we know in part we’ve done a lot of things well and made the country proud in good tournaments,” added Kane. “We’re here to win ultimately and there will be nothing better than to do that for the nation. There’s a lot of top teams and tomorrow night is our focus. We know how tough it was to get to the final last time. We’re going to have to do that again and even more if we want to do that again and hopefully one step further.”

Serbia confident ahead of Euro debut
When Serbia finally make their long awaited European Championship debut today, manager Dragan Stojkovic said they are determined not to be overawed by the occasion or their English opponents who are one of the front-runners for the title.
Eighteen years after gaining independence, Serbia face a stiff test against England in the opening match of their Euro 2024 campaign. “We should have maximum concentration and the quality at the maximum level, and I would not make a difference between the first, second or the third match, each of those matches are of extraordinary importance,” Stojkovic said.
“We know that we are starting against one of the favourites playing against England, but we have really done a lot to prepare as best as possible. Trust me, they can hardly wait for the match to start, because physically and tactically at the same time, I am convinced that we are ready to face the challenges that come with England.”
Stojkovic, who is coaching Serbia at a major tournament for the second time, hopes a strong performance in Germany can be a launch pad for his side considering all three of their appearances at the World Cup have ended in the group stage. Serbia are likely to be led in Gelsenkirchen by Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who are teammates at Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, and Dusan Tadic. Mitrovic spent eight years with Newcastle and Fulham before his move to the Arabian Peninsula. Serbia play Slovenia on Thursday and then take on Denmark in their final Group C game on June 25.