Southgate: England will use history against Italy as motivation

England faces Italy in their first Euro 2024 Group C qualifier in Naples on Thursday. As the Three Lions have not beaten the Azzurri in Italy since May 1961; "The past is irrelevant tomorrow night because we have to start again," England coach Gareth Southgate said in his pre-match press conference. Southgate wants England to create another piece of history in Naples, Italy. Gareth Southgate has challenged his England players to shake off the disappointment of losing in the World Cup quarter-finals by claiming a rare victory away to Italy on Thursday. "In a nutshell, it is the sort of challenge that we've got to start to take on and the type of game we've got to start winning. We have over a period, but we've got to now consistently try to do that," he said on Wednesday. "We don't need any more evidence of belief; they [England players] have been involved in some of the biggest matches in world football and they know the level that's required, they know they have the ability to compete at that level. "And then the fact that whatever we've done in the past is irrelevant tomorrow night because we have to start again. We have to have the humility to work hard to qualify again and it's a great fixture for us to get that underway." "I think what we did really well after the Euros was our first game was away in Hungary. We gave one of our best performances, I think, and our mentality from the start was really, really good," he said. "Of course, you're always going to think you're going to have other opportunities but injury, form, new players coming through in your position, you can never take that for granted. "Yes, clearly the older ones know the timescale is quite clear. But everybody else has to be mindful of that as well." Southgate was also asked whether the game provided the perfect opportunity for Harry Kane - who needs just one more goal to become England's record goalscorer - to put the disappointment of the World Cup in Qatar behind him.