Babalola Oluwatomiwa
Social Member
The Three Lions of England manager Roy Hodgson has commended UEFA for deciding to stage the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 championship at the Wembley Stadium saying its “a great honour.”
Thirteen cities have been selected to host the games but London won the right to stage the three closing matches of the tournament and Hodgson was delighted by the news.
“I think it’s fantastic and a great honour of course. Greg Dyke, Alex Horne and the FA board have put in a lot of effort,” said Hodgson.
“Luckily we have David Gill (former CEO of Manchester United) on the chief executive committee of UEFA now and I know all these people have worked hard to get London as the host city for the semi-finals and final.
“I think it means a lot to the country, a lot for our football and I think it’s a very good choice as well because Wembley is a wonderful arena and London is a great city, so I think it’s a success all round.”
He also said that England’s players will not be under extra pressure to perform as they look to reach the final four of a tournament they will be the primary hosts.
“If you go into a major tournament, there is always pressure on the coach, the staff and the players,” he added.
“Playing matches in your home arena is still a big advantage and I think it will be a big spur for the players.
“We have a very young team at the moment and many of them will be thinking, ‘I am going to still be playing in 2020, I will still be around," he was quoted to have said on Skysports.com
“I think it is a spur for them to kick on to make sure they use their experience of playing in the national team to make certain when these semi-finals and final are being played, they are in the team and playing.”
Thirteen cities have been selected to host the games but London won the right to stage the three closing matches of the tournament and Hodgson was delighted by the news.
“I think it’s fantastic and a great honour of course. Greg Dyke, Alex Horne and the FA board have put in a lot of effort,” said Hodgson.
“Luckily we have David Gill (former CEO of Manchester United) on the chief executive committee of UEFA now and I know all these people have worked hard to get London as the host city for the semi-finals and final.
“I think it means a lot to the country, a lot for our football and I think it’s a very good choice as well because Wembley is a wonderful arena and London is a great city, so I think it’s a success all round.”
He also said that England’s players will not be under extra pressure to perform as they look to reach the final four of a tournament they will be the primary hosts.
“If you go into a major tournament, there is always pressure on the coach, the staff and the players,” he added.
“Playing matches in your home arena is still a big advantage and I think it will be a big spur for the players.
“We have a very young team at the moment and many of them will be thinking, ‘I am going to still be playing in 2020, I will still be around," he was quoted to have said on Skysports.com
“I think it is a spur for them to kick on to make sure they use their experience of playing in the national team to make certain when these semi-finals and final are being played, they are in the team and playing.”
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