Euro 2024: No injury concerns for England in final as Kieran Trippier and Harry Kane train ahead of Spain showdown
Published 13/07/2024 at 14:12 GMT+1
England's full squad trained for the last time at their Blankenhain base before travelling to Berlin for Sunday's Euro 2024 final against Spain. Both Kieran Tripper and Harry Kane, who had minor knocks after the semi-final win over the Netherlands, were in action at training, with Gareth Southgate expected to have his full squad available before picking his team for the final.
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Kieran Trippier and Harry Kane have shaken off any lingering doubts about their fitness ahead of England’s Euro 2024 final against Spain.
England’s full squad trained for the last time ahead of Sunday’s final, with Gareth Southgate expected to have no injury concerns before picking his team.
Trippier was substituted at half-time during England’s 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the semi-final after suffering a knock, while Kane was also taken off with 10 minutes to go on Wednesday and appeared in discomfort after winning the penalty which he scored.
Southgate said he “didn’t want to take any chances” with Trippier, who was replaced by Luke Shaw in the semi-final.
Asked about Trippier and Kane’s fitness on Friday, Southgate said: “No scans, no. As far as we know they’re OK, but we haven’t done a lot out on the pitch, so we’ll find more [on Saturday].
“Obviously, we’re not expecting anybody to rule themselves out for the final.”
Both players were in action in England’s last training at Blankenhain today before the squad travels to Berlin for Sunday’s final.
One of Southgate’s big calls for the final will be who to start at left-back, with Trippier – a right-footed player – starting in every match of the tournament so far, while Shaw has slowly regained match fitness on his return from a hamstring injury.
Shaw, who hadn’t played since February, made his first appearance for England at the tournament in the quarter-final victory over Switzerland, and played the majority of the semi-final on Wednesday.
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Speaking ahead of England's second consecutive Euros final, Southgate said he admires Spain as a team, but hopes his side can rise to the occasion on Sunday.
“They’re excellent, I have a lot of admiration for them,” he said of Spain. “They’ve been excellent with the ball and without the ball, they work as a team and without doubt deserve to be in the final.
“But we have to hope we are rising to the occasion each time. There’s no question we’ve improved with the ball and we needed to.
“We were inhibited at the start of the tournament and we’ve been freer in the last few games.
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