WE HAVE TO SEIZE THIS MOMENT AND REACH FOR GLORY

Southgate urges England heroes to set sights on the biggest prizes

THE England dressing room was, said Gareth Southgate, a desolate place, and as tough an audience as a football manager can face. But from somewhere he found the words to address his players and staff.

From somewhere he found the words of encouragement as much as commiseration, when he too was still dealing with the bitter disappointment of knowing how close they had come.

‘I’m not sure it was perfect by any means,’ said Southgate. ‘But what I did say was that they have to learn from moments in games that matter, where they have good control against the top teams. They are the moments in which you continue to play and you have to keep being brave.

‘Equally, though, I said I was incredibly proud of them for how they have been, and how they have represented their country and how they have played; the mentality they have shown, the respect they have shown for the shirt.

‘I told them they should take a huge amount from the reception they got from the supporters, because that has not always been the way with England. And that tells them more than anything I can say; what they have achieved and what they leave here with.’

Southgate hopes they have proved a point in Russia. Proved to Premier League managers that young English talent deserves a chance, and proved English managers and coaches deserve a chance, too.

‘We felt it was the chance to showcase what young English players can do and we also hoped we could strike a blow for English coaches as well, because it’s not always been possible for English coaches to have this job,’ he said.

‘That’s why it is an honour to do it, to play in the way we did and get to a stage of a tournament that will hopefully inspire young coaches as well. The messages I have had from back home have helped me see what’s possible.’

There is no doubt it has helped England’s players see what is possible, too, and what they can now achieve with the emergence of talent from their all-conquering junior sides.

Players such as Manchester City’s Phil Foden, Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, Everton’s Ademola Lookman and Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, not to mention Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, who would have been at this World Cup had it not been for injury.

‘We have to be realistic,’ said Southgate. ‘All the games we’ve had against the bigger teams we haven’t won. But we have won the games that maybe in the past we were expected to win, but didn’t. Maybe that’s why we’ve got to the stage we have. Now we have to keep improving, and these guys will improve. We’ve managed to get a lot from this group of players and play in a way that highlighted some of our strengths and hid some of our weaknesses.

‘It’s important for us to recognise that as a group of players and a group of staff. We have to build. We have good young players coming through. We’ve had success at youth level, and what we’ve done over the last few weeks has shown people what is possible. Now we’ve got to use it as a springboard to consistently reach the latter stages of tournaments.

‘We can go down one of two paths. This is either a moment of rare hope and we sink back, or we build in the way Germany did in 2010. We want to be in semi-finals and finals, and we’ve shown to ourselves that can happen. The team and the individuals will be better in a couple of years. Some of these big matches, you just have to go through them and live them to know how to react in the right moments, in the right way.

‘There was just a period in the second half against Croatia when it looked like we had the lead and didn’t want to give it away rather than keep playing. We lost a bit of composure and Croatia’ s experience told.

‘That’s a cruel lesson, but blimey, we’ve come through so many important ones. I’m really very proud of what they’ve done.’

For Southgate, too, important lessons have been learned. ‘There’s only one game that’s bigger than the semi-final, so to lead this team to there has been an incredible experience,’ he said.

‘You are leading your country and I feel hugely proud we got a connection and could give people such enjoyment over an extended period of time.

‘We wanted to go a step further and we were conscious that it was possible, so there is regret. But we have to build on this and I’m sure we can. The desire and hunger among the players will be there.

‘It’s been great for them. They may have had a feeling playing for England was always misery and regret and recrimination. It was difficult to watch guys avoiding mistakes for a long period. Now they’ve seen it can be enjoyable; the whole experience can be enjoyable for everybody.’

Tomorrow’s match with Belgium might put that to the test. It is a game neither team want to play, even if it could determine if Harry Kane wins the Golden Boot.

Sensibly, Southgate says he will wait to see how well his players recover from another gruelling contest before picking a side.

Wing-back Kieran Trippier is certainly a doubt after suffering what looked like a groin injury.

Southgate, however, is already looking beyond the third-place play-off, to Euro 2020 and the next World Cup. To another crack at the biggest prizes with a side who are stronger for this experience.