Euro 2020: 'It's Coming Home' chant a source of pressure or motivation for Three Lions?

The odds are stacked against England as it heads into the Euro 2020 Round of 16 clash against Germany on Tuesday.

England and Germany fans ahead of the Euro fixture on Tuesday.

The odds are stacked against England as it heads into the Euro 2020 Round of 16 clash against Germany on Tuesday. The Three Lions have lost to Germany in their last three knockout meetings at major tournaments, in 1990, 1996 and 2010 and have never won a knockout match over 90 minutes at the Euros.

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Added to that is the pressure of the iconic “It’s Coming Home” chant. It’s Coming Home is a snippet from the Three Lions song written and performed by comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner with the Lightning Seeds band. The song came about to celebrate England hosting the Euros in 1996 and is woven on the nostalgia of England winning the 1966 World Cup.

England has not won a major tournament since and the It’s Coming Home chants make a comeback each time England participates in one. Former Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers defender Mark Seagraves feels the chant and the hype surrounding is a source of added pressure on the team.

England has not won a major tournament since and the It’s Coming Home chants make a comeback each time England participates in one.

“That's just so normal for England (the hype). Every tournament we go into, our arrogance, I don't know where we get it from, our arrogance is that it's coming home, it's coming home. The problem in England is with the press especially, they won’t allow England to win 1-0 playing ugly. They want England to win 3-0 playing like Brazil used to back in the day,” he said.

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“I would love to see England win the tournament playing 1-0 wins, scruffy all right through the way through and bring the trophy home. 1966 is a long time ago (the year England last won a major tournament)! It's about time that we did do something and fail in the semis or in a penalty shootout,” he added.

England has managed only two goals in its three group stage games. Gareth Southgate’s side beat Croatia 1-0 and played out a goalless draw with Scotland before beating the Czech Republic 1-0 to grab the top spot in Group D.

Seagraves felt that England’s attack, which features the likes of Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, is solid but the defence is vulnerable. “When you see the squad, you've got some really good players especially in attack, but defensively they could be a little vulnerable with or without Harry Maguire. I don’t think they've got top-class defenders,” he said.

Watch the UEFA EURO 2020 LIVE on Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 4.