Gareth Southgate has urged his players to “write their own
stories” by steering England to a first knockout win at the
World Cup in 12 years as his team seek to get past Colombia
at Spartak Stadium and into the quarter‑finals.
The national manager is acutely aware of England’s wretched
record in knockout ties in the
Jersey">Brett Kulak Jersey World Cup, with only Denmark
and Ecuador having been beaten since Bobby Robson’s side
reached the last four in 1990. Yet rather than consider that
dismal record as a burden, or be tempted into looking at an
apparently favourable draw that would
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the tournament, the hope is that this young side will be
spurred by the chance to eclipse the achievements of previous,
more experienced teams.
Southgate has described the game with Colombia, ranked four
places below England, as the nation’s “biggest game for a
decade”.
He added: “The point I was making was it’s been over 10
years since we won a knockout fixture. For this team, it’s a
brilliant opportunity to go beyond where more experienced
teams have gone before. They’re relishing that chance. We’re
viewing the game as one with an opponent we really respect.
They’ve got really good players and will have lots of
supporters in the stadium. I went to two of their matches in
Brazil and it was a real carnival atmosphere.
“We have to concentrate on our own football, playing in the
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throughout the tournament, and playing with the same
mentality. We have to show the resilience and the freedom
we’ve played with up to this point. I want the players to
continue to attack the tournament as we have. That shouldn’t
change in the knockout stage. We should feel freer, if
anything, because these are the sort of matches you want to
be involved in. The lads have the chance to write their own
stories now.”
England are expected to revert to the team who defeated
Tunisia in their opening Group G game, with Dele Alli fit after
missing the past two games with a thigh strain. Harry Kane,
one of eight rested against Belgium, will return to captain the
side and will aim to maintain his staggering scoring record
wearing the armband, with manager and players alike anxious
to avoid being distracted by what could lie ahead after the last
16. Finishing second in their section appears to have opened a
more straightforward passage to the semi-finals, but
Colombia, who will check on the fitness of James Rodríguez
late-on, represent distinctly awkward opposition.
England’s survivors in the England squad from Euro 2016 can
recall the humiliation suffered against Iceland. Southgate
implied the team’s approach in Nice may have been
undermined by complacency, with thoughts drifting to a
potential quarter-final against France in Paris, and stressed his
team would not “fall into that trap again”. The focus is on
Colombia alone.
“We focus on the match, on our own performance, and
everything will fall into place from there,” Southgate said.
“Maybe the teams who aren’t here weren’t as strong this time.
That means the ones left have hit a level of performance that’s
very high. If teams knock out the likes of Germany and Spain,
then they have to be respected. We feel we’re one of those
countries with players
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Jersey coming through, but we haven’t discussed
anything beyond Colombia.
“We’re always trying to prepare the team psychologically, get
them in the right mindset for every game, if they need a push
or to be calmed down, whatever it might be. That’s the art of
coaching. That’s what our staff are there to do. What we
sense in
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Cody-Latimer-Jersey.html the group is an excitement; an
understanding that it’s pointless looking beyond this match
and that was a trap we’ve fallen into in the past. You can see
how tight all the knockout matches are.
“If you’d asked me a couple of months ago whether I knew
exactly what to expect from my team, I’d have been a bit more
uncertain. But the more we work with this group of players,
the more consistent their performance is. We are a young side,
the least experienced in the tournament, but we have some
old fogeys as well who can provide the leadership. They are
really hungry and want to do well … I’m confident we’ll see a
really good performance.”
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