Gareth Southgate challenges his England stars to bounce back from their World Cup exit in Italy

Gareth Southgate has challenged his England players to show they can muster the stamina to overcome their latest tournament heartbreak here in Italy.

The national team faces Roberto Mancini’s team in Naples on Thursday night, their first match since a 2-1 loss to France in the World Cup quarterfinals.

England reached the Euro 2020 final, where they lost to tonight’s opponents, following a crushing 2018 World Cup semi-final loss to Croatia, and Southgate is demanding their players show the same spirit to overcome their latest blow. by winning their first match in Italy. since 1962 and start their Euro Cup campaign on the right foot.

He said: ‘The experience we’ve had in the last four or five years, some have joined in that period and some have been here the whole time.

“The fact that we don’t need more evidence of belief as they’ve had experience in the biggest games and know they can compete at that level and what we’ve done in the past is irrelevant as we need to be humble and start anew.” “.

The Euro 2024 qualifier will be England’s first game since their World Cup elimination against France

Italy coach Roberto Mancini played down concerns about potential clashes between fans.

‘Simply put, it’s the kind of game we have to start winning, we have a period but we need to do it consistently. We haven’t won here since 1962 and that’s another part of history that we have to break and this team has broken them in the past.

There are major concerns that violent clashes between fans could overshadow Thursday’s clash, but Mancini seems to have indicated that any trouble would be instigated by England fans.

Mancini said: “I don’t work for the police force, but it’s always been the away fans that have come here and usually cause trouble.” We saw it in the Champions League.

“If people come here and behave properly, I don’t think there will be too many problems in that regard.”

Mancini was also asked about his alleged involvement in the Premier League’s investigation into Manchester City’s finances.

The Italian helped City to their first Premier League title in 2012, but it was later claimed the club tried to circumvent financial fair play rules by effectively paying him from two different sources.

In addition to his City salary, it has been claimed that Mancini was also paid a lucrative basic salary as a “consultant” for the Al Jazeera Sports and Cultural Club, which is controlled by the City owner.

The Italian said: ‘No one has contacted or called me and I don’t think anyone will contact me. I’ve paid my taxes, everything’s in order, so I don’t think anyone will contact me.