Gareth Southgate has been England manager for five years and says the memories of the Three Lions' Euro 2020 campaign will stay with him "forever".
The former Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace defender replaced Sam Allardyce on November 30, 2016, having held the post of Under-21s manager since 2013.
Southgate was initially appointed on an interim basis, but was handed the reins permanently after four games and has since led England to a World Cup semi-final in 2018 and the final of Euro 2020 in July.
England secured their spot at the World Cup in Qatar next year by topping their qualifying group, going unbeaten and conceding just three goals in 10 games in the process, leading to a new contract for the 51-year-old that runs until 2024.
"To take a country to a first final in 55 years, for everybody involved, for all the staff, all the players and for all the fans, some of those memories of Wembley through this summer will live with me forever," Southgate said to England's official website.
"[At the 2018 World Cup in] Russia, we brought a connection back with the fans. There were probably several generations of fans who had not been to a semi-final. This year was unique, really, when you think we had been locked away for so long and everything we had lived through.
"There is an important place for international football. It does bring everyone together. When you feel like you are there with 50 million people behind you, it is an immense feeling.
"People used to say 'well, nobody cares about international football anymore' but they did. I think everybody had just been hurt and disappointed a lot, and you almost don’t want to get hurt anymore and you withdraw from it.
"Now we have some generations of fans who think it has always been this way. Well, let me tell you, folks, it hasn't!"
Southgate gave some insight into the process of rebuilding a team that was low on belief and turning them into a side capable of challenging at major tournaments.
"Confidence was low [when I first took the job]," Southgate added. "This was not a group which was disunited, but there was a lack of confidence because of the last couple of tournaments and two changes of manager in a couple of months, so we needed to stabilise things to begin with and we needed to qualify for a World Cup.
"That was the priority but of course what we knew in the background was there was a younger generation of players coming through to support the guys who were already there that could provide real competition for places, with some good experiences of winning at junior level.
"[They were] technically really good players that could maybe play in a slightly different way to traditional England teams of the past, where I was in tournaments with England where we couldn’t keep the ball enough.
"Now in the biggest games we have a step to go with that because we have managed that for long periods in tournaments but under real pressure, we still need to be better at that.
"You have to have continuity. You need a real clear sense of direction for everyone who works at St. George’s on the football and for everybody at the FA.
"I think it is a credit to everybody, the different chairmen and chief executives I have worked with here, that they have put football more at the forefront of their thinking and there has been a plan."
Roma 0-2 Atalanta: De Roon and Zaniolo make it eight Serie A wins in a row
Nicolo Zaniolo scored against his former side as Atalanta defeated Roma 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico on Monday to make it eight Serie A wins in a row and move within one point of leaders Napoli.
Marten de Roon opened the scoring in the 69th minute with a shot from the edge of the box that heavily deflected in off Zeki Celik, before substitute Zaniolo sealed the points in the final minute with a glancing header.
Claudio Ranieri was taking charge of Roma on home soil for the first time since returning for a third spell in charge and saw his side start brightly, with Leandro Paredes testing Marco Carnesecchi and Manu Kone firing just wide.
Atalanta had an Ademola Lookman goal ruled out for offside before half-time as they started to assert a little more authority on the game.
Artem Dovbyk was next to go close for Roma, forcing Carnesecchi into a good save, but Atalanta captain De Roon found the breakthrough at the other end when his deflected shot wrong-footed Mile Svilar.
Zaniolo then got his head to Juan Cuadrado's corner for Atalanta's second, which he did not hold back on celebrating with the travelling fans, as 15th-placed Roma were condemned to a fourth league loss in a row for the first time in 16 years.
EIGHT IN A ROW! #RomaAtalanta pic.twitter.com/8UQPlAsiXf
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 2, 2024
Data Debrief: Game goes way of the form book
This is only the second time Atalanta have ever won eight Serie A matches in a row, having previously done so between February and July 2020.
Roma's form could not be any more contrasting, as they have lost four on the spin in the league for the first time since 2008 under Luciano Spalletti.
I Giallorossi have now picked up just one point from their past four Serie A fixtures against Atalanta, losing four and drawing one of those encounters.
Wright-Phillips backs Man City to turn things around
Shaun Wright-Phillips has backed Manchester City to turn their form around and refused to rule them out of the Premier League title race.
City were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, with Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah getting the goals for the rampant Reds.
Pep Guardiola's team are winless in seven games in all competitions and have now lost their last five league matches.
Sunday's defeat left them 11 points behind Liverpool after 13 games, and their title hopes are dangling by a thread. Indeed, the Opta supercomputer gives City just a 4.3% chance of retaining the title.
But former City winger Wright-Phillips thinks his old club are still in with a chance, if they rediscover their "addiction to winning".
He told Stats Perform: "I'm very confident [in Man City]. I've been lucky enough to have been around the pre-season camps over the last two years and seen the mentality of not only the players but the manager, the coaching staff, and even the staff behind the scenes.
"They've set such high standards for themselves in terms of what they've achieved over the last four years that any dip feels like something is really wrong. But a lot of the players, like some in other teams, didn't have a full pre-season and are still trying to get minutes under their belts and get fit.
"Pep rarely makes excuses. He deals with the hand he's got and tries to find solutions. But with players coming back into the fold, like Kevin De Bruyne getting minutes and Jeremy Doku coming on to liven up the game, you can see the threats are still there.
"Chances will come. And with a man like Erling Haaland up front, I don't think they’ll have much of a problem.
"It's just about getting that first win, regaining that feeling, hunger, and addiction to winning. Once they do, I think they'll be fine."
Guardiola faced chants of "getting sacked in the morning" from the Liverpool fans on Sunday, though smiled his way through it before holding up six fingers, representing his six Premier League titles.
He also did the same towards the travelling City fans at the end of the match.
"I think it's brilliant," said Wright-Phillips. "Things like that are good for the game. It's not him being arrogant, and it's not Liverpool fans being a nuisance.
"I've played at Anfield, and it's a daunting ground to go to, but I've always had a laugh with the fans about what they say.
"If I was on the bench, I'd turn around and just laugh at it. They have good banter, and as soon as Pep responded, they laughed, and it kind of went away.
"It shows there's mutual respect. There's not much more they could have sung about Pep apart from something funny because what he’s achieved within the game — period, not just in the Premier League — is phenomenal."
City host Nottingham Forest in their next Premier League game on Wednesday.
Kelly and Kirby ruled out of England friendly with Switzerland
Chloe Kelly and Fran Kirby will miss England's friendly with Switzerland on Tuesday, manager Sarina Wiegman has confirmed.
Forward Kelly will be absent due to concussion protocols, while midfielder Kirby is absent with a calf problem.
Both players were brought on as substitutes in England's goalless draw with the United States at Wembley on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of the showdown with Switzerland at Bramall Lane, Wiegman revealed she intends to rotate her side.
Millie Bright, an unused substitute last time out, is one of those who will get game time in Sheffield.
"It was a hard decision," Wiegman told BBC Sport on her decision not to use Brighton against USA.
"We've played four defenders the most in the last period so I chose to balance it out against USA.
"Of course, that's very hard for Millie. Against Switzerland she will play and I'm happy that she is fit and can take that opportunity."
Last time the #Lionesses played at Bramall Lane!
Sealing our spot in the #WEURO2022 FINAL pic.twitter.com/ZWf0OX4ykl
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) December 2, 2024
England are unbeaten in 11 previous meetings with Switzerland, winning all but one of those.
The Lionesses have only faced Finland (13 times) and Northern Ireland (12 times) more often without ever losing in their history.
However, Wiegman is expecting a difficult contest against a side ranked 25th in the world – some 23 places below England.
"I think they will be hard to break down," Wiegman said. "They play in a really compact way but are not scared to get in behind quickly. We have warned about those situations."
This will be England's fourth game at Bramall Lane, having won each of the previous three by an aggregate score of 11-0.
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