WE SHOULD BE WALKING TALL

Southgate: Qualifying for tournaments is never easy

CRISTIANO RONALDO, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Alexis Sanchez and Gareth Bale.

Just some of the serial thrillers who could be watching the greatest show on turf on TV next summer.

With only the group winners sure of a golden ticket, the remaining games for the likes of Portugal, Argentina, Chile and Wales have taken on an even greater urgency.

It is the reason why Gareth Southgate’s achievement, a year after Sam Allardyce’s sacking, cannot be underestimated or taken for granted.

The England manager has had to steady the ship, ease out a captain and deal with one or two crises of his own.

Three points tonight, however, and – as he puts it – “England will leave Wembley in Russia”.

Many fans still see qualification for major tournaments as a given, particularly with the class at England’s disposal.

But Southgate issued a timely reminder of why, despite not having a particularly tough group, we should appreciate the scale of his squad’s achievement.

“Any tournament, any trophy, always requires enormous planning, commitment and detail,” he said.

“You should never underestimate any qualification. I look at coaches around the world and say, ‘They’ve got good players’. But it’s never simple. You have to be tactically right in the games.

“The players have had to overcome a lot of hurdles from the very first game, scoring in the last minute [in Slovakia last year]. A significant moment for them. There are fine margins, always.”

England have missed out on the World Cup three times, the last in 1994.

Since then we have looked on as other countries have conducted inquests and post-mortems following their failure to reach the main event.

This time around Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Gabon, Virgil van Dijk’s Holland and Gianluigi Buffon’s Italy are all under threat, placing into sharp focus just how well England have done.

A win against Slovenia tonight will send them over the line with a game to spare. “It’s not relief,” added Southgate. “It’s what we’re aiming to do.

“It’s the objective we set ourselves. When we leave Wembley we want to be in Russia and with a chance to plot how this team moves forward.

“The whole country will want to go to a World Cup. Thinking back to those years when we weren’t in it, as a kid coming home, it was a horrible feeling, wow. So we want to have a crack at it.

“In my lifetime there have been three tournaments England didn’t qualify for. My first memory of a World Cup is 1978, watching the games in Argentina, the ticker-tape, and supporting Scotland. It’s ridiculous.

“In this group of players, some have played in a World Cup, many haven’t.

“They’re desperate to be involved and, having been to Russia last summer, I can see what an exciting tournament it’s going to be.”

The record getting there might be impressive. The form at the big occasion? Not so much.

It is the reason why Southgate and the FA are bidding to ensure conditions are just right for the players.

He added: “It would be remiss not to be planning some of those things already. There are areas and details we want to get right and will focus on.

“We learn from the tournaments we’ve been in before, and the experiences of the players and staff. We don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”