Leave? Not a chance...we can win the World Cup

SOUTHGATE SAYS HE COULD NEVER GIVE UP ON ULTIMATE DREAM

GARETH SOUTHGATE admits his dream of lifting the World Cup made it impossible to walk away from the England job.

Southgate, who will have been in charge for eight years come the end of his contract in December 2024, is adamant his squad can win the World Cup after reaching the semifinals in Russia in 2018.

Three Lions boss Southgate said: “We’ve only ever won one but we still have the belief that it’s possible. It’s of course incredibly difficult because in international football you get only one opportunity to win a trophy every couple of years, but it is possible.

“It’s an aim we should have as a team. The next few years can be very exciting.

“Did we think four years ago that we would be sitting here on the back of a semi-final and a final (at Euro 2020)? We may have all hoped but it might not have been a realistic dream.

“We are in a group of teams that get to those later stages in competitions.

“Only one nation can win a trophy every two years and only five or six countries seem to have won World Cups over a period of time. But that has to be our ambition.”

Southgate’s five years in charge has seen remarkable progress given he inherited a team at its lowest point after losing to Iceland in Euro 2016 under Roy Hodgson, followed by Sam Allardyce’s short-lived reign. In that short time he has restored pride to the team and forged a connection with fans who were growing increasingly disillusioned.

England reached the World Cup semi-final in 2018, losing to Croatia, and the Euros final last summer, losing to Italy, but arguably Southgate’s biggest achievement has been to restore that connection with Three

Lions supporters.

Against all odds the exengland defender has made the ‘impossible job’ possible.

“There have been times when perhaps the dream when you were with England was just to survive,” said Southgate. “There have been times when I’ve played with England when we travelled away and you were worried about walking over to the fans because you weren’t sure what reaction you were going to get. You were worried about picking up the paper the next day because maybe the team were going to be torn to shreds because of the performance.” The new contract very deliberately takes Southgate and his No.2 Steve Holland (left) up to December 2024, beyond the next World Cup and Euros. It means they will not go into the latter facing searching questions about whether they will stay on. Instead, they will have a six-month period of grace.

By that time 51-year-old Southgate, who managed Middlesbrough for three years from 2006, admits he will think about a club job.

“If this contract is the last, I’ll still only be 54 at the end of it,” he said. “I’m hoping there’s still quite a lot of my life to live beyond that.

“But I was very happy to commit to the new contract.

“You get to a point where you know the team can challenge, and then you want to bring that to fruition.

“I think that walking away would have been difficult to live with.”