In the immediate aftermath of England’s poor performance against Denmark, at least one player could be satisfied with his work.
And Eberechi Eze insisted the rest of his team-mates were also stress-free despite the overwhelmingly negative reaction to their display in the 1-1 draw against the Danes. Eze made his tournament debut and acquitted himself well after replacing Bukayo Saka 20 minutes from the end of the match in Frankfurt.
Ahead of their second Group C fixture, Southgate had spoken extensively of the difficulty inexperienced England players might find when dealing with the scrutiny the national team gets.
And Eze and the rest of the team came in for an avalanche of criticism after scraping a point against a Denmark side that looked far more accomplished. But the Crystal Palace attacker said they would take the flak in their stride.
He declared: “I’d say we’re staying calm, we know the potential we’ve got. We’re building, we’re getting towards the level that we know we can play at.
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“Ultimately, we’ll stay calm, we’ve got four points and there’s more to improve. No stress, we’re not panicking.
“We’re very calm. Of course, we want to get three points, we want to put in performances that we know we’re capable of but this is what happened at the last tournament and no one remembers it when you reach the latter stages.
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Harry Kane came under criticism for his display against Denmark (2024 Getty Images)“We’re staying calm, we’re keeping positive and we know there are more levels to go.”
One England player who has come in for particular criticism has been Harry Kane, who was replaced by Ollie Watkins at the same time as Eze came on for Saka.
But, predictably, Eze was quick to launch a robust defence of his captain, saying: “Harry is an incredible player, always does his job for the team. You guys probably look too much into that kind of stuff but a player like him, you don’t really need to question him.
“You know he’s going to work for the team, he’s going to put in performances and score goals. That’s the type of player he is.”
And when it was pointed out to Eze that Portugal drew all three of their group matches - against Hungary, Iceland and Austria - the Palace man responded: “Exactly that. Tournament football is a rollercoaster. This is my first one but that’s what they’re all saying. As long as you stay calm and positive, you’ll be fine.”
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