Gareth Southgate says England have ‘brilliant opportunity’ to end knockout hoodoo
Written by News on 02/07/2018
Gareth Southgate says England have a brilliant opportunity to end their miserable record in the knockout stages of major tournaments.
England take on Colombia in the last-16 of the World Cup in Moscow on Tuesday looking for their first victory in a knockout match since 2006.
Spain were regarded as the toughest possible opponent in England’s half of the draw, but they were knocked out by hosts Russia on Monday.
England’s path to the final – should they beat Colombia – would be either Switzerland or Sweden in the quarter-finals, and then Croatia or Russia in the semis.
“For this team, this is a brilliant opportunity to go beyond where more experienced teams have before them,” said Southgate.
“The lads have got the chance to write their own stories.
“The thing I want more than anything else is the players to continue to attack the tournament as we have. That shouldn’t change now we are in the knockout phase. If anything we should feel freer.
“It is a game we are really looking forward to, the sort of match you want to be involved in. It is going to be a fantastic evening.”
However, Southgate did warn that England should not get ahead of themselves as they still have to get past Colombia, who reached the last-eight of the 2014 World Cup.
He said: “We have to focus on the game tomorrow. We have a very difficult opponent, a very good side who we respect.
“We’ve got to concentrate on our football, playing in the style we have throughout the tournament, playing with the same mentality, and make sure we show the resilience and play with the freedom that we have up to this point.”
(c) Sky News 2018: Gareth Southgate says England have ‘brilliant opportunity’ to end knockout hoodoo
