England kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday, but Laura Woods has her sights set on the latter rounds of the tournament.
Gareth Southgate’s side head into Euro 2024 as one of the pre-tournament favourites, but they’ll first need to navigate a tricky Group C containing Denmark and Slovenia, along with Serbia, before focussing on the knockout stages.
Laura Woods - who will be in Germany as one of the ITV presenters - is confident of England comfortably progressing to the last 16. For the presenter, there’s a minimum expectation for the Three Lions, otherwise the tournament should be regarded as a failure.
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“I'm really excited about it,” Woods exclusively tells FourFourTwo, courtesy of BetMGM. “I'm trying not to get too downbeat about the Iceland performance and results, because I think sometimes it's a good thing. Sometimes you need to be shocked a little bit to get a little bit of extra motivation. And I think once the tournament actually starts, and you're in that bubble, I think it will feel really different.
“So I've got high expectations for England, and I don't think I'm wrong to have them. We've got far too much talent and far too much experience within that squad, and a manager that's been to numerous tournaments, so we should be expecting to get to the final as a minimum.
“I would love to win it obviously. It'd be amazing, but anything less than reaching the final would be a massive disappointment.”
Looking ahead to the opening match against Serbia on Sunday, Woods is anticipating finding out England’s true level.
“I'm trying not to get nervous,” Woods adds. “Just because I think we'll know where we are a little bit better when I think once you see them in action.
“Again, I'm just putting the Iceland result to one side and I'm thinking let's just ignore that for the moment. Once we actually see them in action and know where we are within the actual settings of tournament football, I think it will feel a bit different.”
Laura Woods is BetMGM's new ambassador, starting with Euro 2024. Play the new £2million Golden Goals game by predicting Euro 2024 scores at betmgm.co.uk. BeGambleAware 18+
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