IT’S TIME TO DELIVER

Southgate tells his Lions that talk is cheap... now they must end 12 years of knockout pain

GARETH SOUTHGATE has told his England players talk is cheap and it is time to deliver.

The England boss is desperate for the Three Lions to end their 12-year wait for a knockout win in a major tournament as they face Colombia in the last 16 of the World Cup tonight.

Southgate said: “We feel that after all our preparations we are in a good place. Now we have to stop talking and go and deliver.

“Of course, once you get to these games there are really fine margins.

“So there are games that you know as a team, if you

want to progress to have success, you have to win these matches.”

Harry Kane (above) and England have a glorious opportunity to reach the genuine business end of the tournament after big guns Germany, Spain and Argentina were all sent crashing out. Southgate said: “I think life is always about opportunity presenting itself and taking control of it, taking charge of it.

“We said we didn’t want this tournament to take hold of us and push us around, we wanted to attack it and make sure we were in charge of our destiny.”