SOUTHGATE THE EXORCIST
The England boss has won a penalty shootout, a World Cup knockout game and now must lay his team’s last ghost... semi-final conquerors Croatia
GARETH SOUTHGATE wants to finish 2018 by exorcising the final ghost of England’s past. He ended England’s penalty shoot-out jinx and they won their first knockout game in 12 years, yet Croatia still haunt them. The Three Lions boss faces his team’s nemesis and World Cup conquerors at Wembley in a winnertakes-all Nations League shoot-out after Croatia’s last-gasp win over Spain on Thursday night. Eleven years on from Steve McClaren and the Wally with the Brolly when England were washed away by Croatia in the rain, the forecast for tomorrow is glorious sunshine. England’s outlook is equally bright when it comes to finally getting the better of Croatia, having lost to them in the semifinal in Russia in the summer. England were beaten by Croatia in 2007 when needing only a draw to reach the Euros the following year. Southgate said: “We’ve players who should feel on this stage that it’s their moment to deliver, and show what they can do.
“I know they’re hugely excited at hearing the Croatia result and realising there’s an opportunity to aim for something again, rather than a game that’s just for pride.
“We have to make sure we show how we’re progressing, and that we’ve learned from our recent past, and build on recent performances.
“That’s what we’ve tried to do over the last 18 months, really.
“I think for me it’s about our team and now. We didn’t get over the line in the summer, and we want to try to prove we have learned from that, and have improved from the summer.
“We play a team which we hugely respect, with real competitors and warriors. It’s dead simple really. We go to a semi-final and that’s all we will focus on and everything else.. we just go for it.
“There’s no point in hedging our bets that we might do this, we might do that or we need a 0-0.
“We want to send our fans away with a performance that excites them and we’ve a chance to get through what’s been a really strong group, so for me we just focus on going for the win.” Suddenly there is a buzz around the Nations League as far as England are concerned because Croatia beating Spain 3-2 means victory on Sunday puts Southgate’s men through.
However, he warned it was dangerous to underestimate opponents who regularly defy the odds.
He said: “Croatia have shown again against Spain. They have flipped from a 6-0 defeat in September to a win in the 93rd minute. It tells us everything about their mentality and quality. I think Sunday is a great game for everyone to look forward to. “Croatia will feel they have another gear to go to, they will relish the occasion and will relish having to come to Wembley and be up against it. That’s the way their mentality is.
“I have felt all along that the beauty of it was going to be a really good test against other top teams. For everybody that’s become now.
“OK, a really good night in Seville and the game here with Spain was a really good occasion.
“Now this takes on even more excitement, and none of us could really predict how it would fall or how it would look like especially on the back of the summer, but it’s built to a really exciting finish, certainly in our group.
“We want to achieve consistent performances and continue to improve and learn as a team, and these games have given us a really good test. It is unprecedented to come off the back of a major tournament and have so many strong tests in such a quick period of time.
“It’s been really good for us as the way of learning and improving what we do with and without the ball, gaining some belief, but also we’ve some new players who have emerged in that period.
“We are pleased with the progress up to this point and we want to finish that well.”