Standards England need to set to beat Spain in Euro 2024 final, according to Gareth Southgate

A summer that began with unconvincing displays, fan discontent and widespread criticism will end with a shot at history in Sunday’s Berlin showpiece at the Olympiastadion.

England secured a final showdown against Spain thanks to super sub Ollie Watkins’ stunning strike at the death against Netherlands, sealing a 2-1 win and sparking bedlam across the land.

This is the first time an English men’s team has made it to a major final overseas and a second successive continental final for a side that lost on penalties to Italy at the end of the last edition.

Spain are sure to pose an almighty challenge and Southgate knows England will have to be at their absolute best against an in-form side who have had an extra day to prepare if they are to join the 1966 World Cup team in immortality.

Asked if facing offensive, possession-focused teams suits England better than defensive outfits, the manager said with a smile: “Well, we have to get the ball off them first!

“It’s not as simple as us having the ball and making them run. I mean, they press very, very well, so we’re going to have to be exceptional with the ball, and we’re going to have to be exceptional without it.

“But it’s a final, you expect it to be that way. They’ve been the best team. We’re starting to show a better version of ourselves.

“The extra day is a concern. You know, in the last few tournaments that’s been a problem for finalists, so we’ve got to do the very best we can to recover the players as well as we can.

“But we’re not going to be on the training ground. That’s simple. We’ll be walking through things or delivering things in meetings, which was the same for this game.

“But we’re in there and with what we’ve shown to this point we have as good a chance as they do.”

Spain are the bookmakers’ favourites to triumph in Berlin, where Southgate will attempt to mastermind England men’s first continental crown having fallen agonisingly short in the Euro 2020 final.

England’s squad has a new look to it nowadays but the core from the Italy defeat remains, with Southgate utilising that experience as the group quickly refocuses on Spain.

“The lads are singing in the dressing room, but they’re straight in the ice,” he said with a laugh after the Signal Iduna Park semi-final.

“There won’t be any wild parties. We’ve had a couple of those already, so we pick our moments for those.

“But in terms of the experience, of course every game you manage, every tournament you manage, you learn so much.

“When I took this job I’d had three years as a Premier League manager. I’ve now had 100 internationals, some of the biggest games in world football. You learn all the time from that.

England returned to their Blankenhain base after Wednesday’s Dortmund triumph to rest, recover and refocus on their toughest test yet, with Harry Kane and Kieran Trippier carrying knocks.