SKIPPER Harry Kane was tonight backed to lead England into their first major final since 1966 — by a Great Dane.
Mighty Major, who stands nearly 7ft on his back legs, even showed off nifty footwork of his own ahead of the big game against Denmark.
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He had a kickabout with a pal as the nation looked forward to the Euros semi-final showdown at Wembley tomorrow night.
The five-year-old champion, who weighs 12st, won his latest show two weeks ago and is now firmly behind Kane and Co to follow his lead.
He even wore an England shirt and stood proudly draped in the flag of St George to show his support for Gareth Southgate’s men.
Major’s owner, leading UK breeder and Crufts judge Laurence Morgan-Evans, of Wootton, Beds, said: “We’ve been glued to the telly watching the Euros. It’s so exciting. We hope England can get into the final and win it.”
Last night, goal ace Harry, 27, admitted that the nation was not alone in daring to dream.
He said: “I try not to let my mind get too far ahead. But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about winning the Euros. As a kid growing up you have a vision of what you want to do and what you dream about — and this is it.”
Three Lions teammate Harry Maguire, 28, took time out to play a game of darts but said they were ready to make history. He pledged to end England’s semi-final hoodoo after defeats at Italia 90, Euro 96 and Russia 2018 — and roared: “We’re better than ever.”
Maguire was in the side beaten 2-1 by Croatia in 2018. He said: “Losing the semi-final at the World Cup hurt a lot. So we need to make sure when it comes on Wednesday night we get a positive feeling.”
Last night, tens of thousands of fans scrambled for the few remaining tickets at Wembley. Seats were going for as much as £6,500 each online.
Up to 60,000 people will be allowed into the stadium — the biggest crowd since Covid began last March. England have an allocation of 8,500 tickets for the match but most of those have already been reserved.
The Football Association said it was working with Uefa to “finalise the total allocation and secure more tickets”.
It bagged an extra 1,700 after Denmark reduced its allocation to 5,000.
Tens of thousands of fans logged on for hours today in the hope of grabbing one at the last-minute but were left disappointed and then flooded social media in their search.
Adam French, consumer rights expert at Which?, warned: “Fans need to be aware there’s no guarantee they will get their tickets or entry to the match if they buy from an unofficial seller. They could be left seriously out of pocket.”
Pubs face running out of beer as fans throw it in the air celebrating goals — then buy more to toast the team. The Campaign for Real Ale said: “Publicans are worried they won’t get supplies.”
The British Institute of Innkeepers said: “Fans are flocking in — but pubs are running out of some lines of beer, with very limited deliveries from breweries due to supply chain problems.”
England football shirts are also in short supply amid a £12billion Euros economic boom.
All £70 shirts have sold out on the FA’s official website, with just a low number of £115 match shirts printed with a few players’ names left.
SportsDirect and JD Sports have sold out of all adult sizes, with just a few junior tops remaining. Flags, bunting and car flag sales have rocketed. Fan Salim Said tweeted: “England shirts are sold out at every store. People are starting to believe.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
