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Cape Town - Eric Dier feels England need to indulge in gamesmanship when they take on the rest of the continent in Euro 2016, which kicks off on June 10.
The Tottenham midfielder was born in England but grew up in Portugal, coming through the youth ranks at Sporting CP before making the switch to White Hart Lane in 2014.
Dier is part of Roy Hodgson's provisional squad for the European Championship finals in France, and insists the Three Lions will need to master the dark arts if they hope to win the tournament.
"I grew up in Portugal where it's quite similar and I don't think it's as aggressive," he said. "it's got more of an intelligent edge.
"I think it's important that we have that. A lot of European and international teams have that intelligent edge as much as an aggressive edge. We've got to be like that too.
"I don't think they go around kicking people. They win fouls in clever places on the pitch, they keep possession, they know how to wind people up, they know how agitate people. We can't fall for that and we can learn from that.
"Streetwise is the perfect way to put it. European teams and nations are like that. I think the English are a bit too honest, hard-working at times. We need to be clever, but we don't want to lose that English attitude either."
Hodgson's side will warm up for the tournament with friendly matches against Australia and Portugal.
