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Gareth Southgate has challenged his England players to "choose what colour medal" they want and that he will only consider their Euro 2020 journey to be a success if they win Sunday's final against Italy. England have exceeded expectations this summer by reaching their first tournament showpiece for 55 years. - Euro 2020 on ESPN: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)
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- Don't have ESPN? Get instant access A crowd of around 65,000 is expected at Wembley hoping to see England lift what would be only the second major trophy in their history, following the 1966 World Cup. Southgate's personal story of redemption -- 25 years after missing the decisive penalty in England's Euro '96 semifinal against Germany -- has been a theme surrounding England's run but he once again played down that aspect despite taking part in jubilant celebrations at Wembley after edging a hard-fought game against Denmark on Wednesday. "I could see why the sort of film script would be whatever [about me]," Southgate told reporters at St George's Park. "But it was strange the other night because once I'd finished embarrassing myself on the pitch, all I could think about, it wasn't pinching myself 'we're in the final.' It was: 'we've got to get this right now. How do we get this game right?' "Because I know it won't be enough for me and for the rest of the staff and for the players if we don't win it now. You get lovely messages that say 'whatever happens now, blah blah blah blah' but that won't be how it will be on Monday. "I get the story [about me] but it's been about 'how can we can we keep progressing, how do we push this team as far as we think we can?' "And I think we're in a position we deserve to be over the course of the tournament and I think we've got a 50-50 game against a really top opponent. "We've got to get it right. We can win it, but we've got to get it spot on to win it. I said to the players yesterday all of these other bits, the legacy bits they have achieved... people are respecting how they've been and respecting that they've represented the country in the right way, but now they have a choice of what colour medal. "And that in the end is what, yesterday and today and tomorrow and the matchday are all about because their focus, their preparation has got to be spot on to achieve what they want."
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