England captain Harry Kane has insisted that past semi-final experience can help the Three Lions reach a second successive Euros final.
England take on the Netherlands on Wednesday in Dortmund with a place in Sunday’s final on the line.
But Kane, who has been a key cog throughout Gareth Southgate’s tenure, says their 2018 World Cup semi-final loss to Croatia and their 2021 Euros victory against Denmark has given them the experience they need to get past the Netherlands.
“I think you just use past experiences to help,” the England captain said. “We’ve got a lot of players who have experienced big games at club and international level. You try to use all that to prepare you in the best way possible and control the nerves and excitement.
“[Wednesday] will be no different, we have a goal and target of where we want to be and what we think’s achievable. Step by step we’re getting closer to that target. We prepare like any other game.
“During the game you lean on experience, the leaders who have been there and done that. Ultimately it’s about going out there and taking the opportunity with both hands.”
Added Kane: “Reaching back-to-back European Championship finals would be an amazing achievement and we have the opportunity to go and do that.”
Highlights
Tough opponents for England
England looked like a changed side in their quarter-final victory over Switzerland having limped through to the knockouts prior.
But preparation for Wednesday’s fixture hasn’t been kind to the Netherlands either with their train to Dortmund cancelled resulting in a late arrival.
A UEFA statement said: “Due to the Netherlands’ team travel to Dortmund having been disrupted, their arrival time has been significantly delayed and therefore no (matchday)-1 press conference will take place.”
On England’s opponents, manager Southgate said the Netherlands “don’t tend to sit in” and that their boss Ronald Koeman is an experienced coach at this level.
“We are prepared for anything, it will be an exciting game with many good players on the pitch,” the Englishman added.
“We need another step from what we showed in the last game, it’s a step up in quality of opponents and we are ready for that.”
Tonight’s fixture at Signal Iduna Park, which holds 81,000 fans, in Dortmund hosts England versus the Netherlands at 8pm.
The final on Sunday will take place at Berlin’s Olympiastadion at 8pm.