Agent of change

Southgate embraced own misery to turn England mindset

Moscow: The wine was flowing under the chandeliers of the luxury London hotel ballroom when Gareth Southgate was given a painful reminder of the most agonising moment of his playing career.

Surrounded by current and former players, Southgate was trying to look forward to his World Cup as England coach when he was taken back 22 years.

Inside the awards’ dinner speech at the Grosvenor House in April, Southgate had to endure the penalty miss that led to England losing the 1996 European Championship semi-final being a punchline in a speech by Professional Footballers’ Association chairman Ben Purkiss.

Many athletes would have recoiled at being the object of derision in an audience of their peers. Purkiss later felt compelled to contact Harry Kane to explain a joke at the England striker’s expense.

But Southgate hasn’t tried to hide away from his own misfortune in the glare of the world – from the self-deprecating Pizza Hut advertisement at the time to talks with the England squad now under his command.

“When something goes wrong in your life,” Southgate advises, “it doesn’t finish you.” You can even lead the national team. Progress at the World Cup in Russia has been secured by the shootout that has haunted England for so long. A victory over Colombia on Tuesday carried the English into their first World Cup quarter-final since 2006 and was the work of meticulous planning.

England teams have been practising penalties for years without being able to find a way of coming out on top when games end tied after extra time and the winner is determined by a test of strength between a striker and goalkeeper separated by 12 yards.

So much of Southgate’s job has been about changing the mindset of a country that is credited with inventing football but have been scarred by failures on the international stage, aside from the senior team’s only title at the 1966 World Cup.

Players had been told for years that penalties were a lottery. Southgate told them it was a process they could own.

“It’s not about luck,” he said ahead of the 4-3 shootout win over Colombia. “It’s not about chance. It’s about performing a skill under pressure. There are individual things you can work on within that. We have to know who is in charge, who needs to get out of the way, who can speak with clarity to the players.”

Not fearing failure was a significant psychological hurdle to overcome.

Southgate embraced his own public humiliation to help the current generation of players prepare to cope with setbacks. At the St. George’s Park training complex in central England, the messages and tactics have been transmitted through the age groups of England teams.

Slowly, England is shaking off its losing mentality. Victory in the Under-20 World Cup in June 2017 was followed by glory in the Under17 edition in October, and now Southgate’s squad remain on track to add a third FIFA title.

Whereas past England sides might have recoiled after conceding a stoppage time equaliser to Colombia, this group held on through extra time and broke the penalties’ curse.

Before Tuesday night in Moscow, England since 1990 had been knocked out of three World Cups on penalties and three European Championships. The only success came at the Euro 96 against Spain before Southgate’s miss in the semi-final against Germany.

With England fans outnumbered by Colombians in the Spartak Moscow stadium, it was an even greater test of nerves for Eric Dier to make the winning kick against Colombia.

“It was like an out of body experience,” Dier said on Wednesday. “I just tried to stay in the moment.”

Southgate has been working to remove players from their comfort zone after seeing – as a UEFA technical observer – how Roy Hodgson’s England froze under pressure and was eliminated by Iceland in the Euro 2016 round of 16. Players were taken last year to the Royal Marines’ Commando Training Centre. One exercise at the boot camp saw players submerged in water.

“(Southgate) wanted to change the way we are and try something different,” Kane recalled. “Because in recent times we haven’t been great for England in tournaments. It’s about trying to change that mental attitude.” — AP