No chance of choosing to play for Portugal
lf-time and was sitting thinking ng home. It was the worst feeling ouldn’t do anything about it. we panicked a bit. red early on and I thought we were ly in control. hey scored straight away from the w – and that was a massive mistake, you could see them realising they ore against us and it gave them onfidence. ore the match goes on, the more e worried you get. But we should trusted the process. uld have trusted ourselves to get it t I think panic set in and when realised it was happening, by then late. ever watched that match again oing to take a long time to apologise u can only look two years down the qualifying for the World Cup, then re and doing well. I play for England I have the feeling want to go home thinking, ‘You at, they gave it their best go. They thing out there.’ t’s about going to the World Cup and doing well. It’s about going there and leaving the right image in that we have a way of playing football, we believe in it and we gave everything playing that way.
“That, for me, is the most important thing – and I don’t think that is something we can repair in the qualifiers.
“The only way to do it is by qualifying, then fixing it at another tournament. And I think the World Cup is the time to do that.”
Dier, meanwhile, has been touted by former England striker Ian Wright as a potential future captain of the Three Lions.
“That’s very nice and I’d like to think that one day I could fill that role,” said the Spurs star. “But I’m quite young at the moment and still finding my feet.
“I enjoy learning from my captain here – Wayne Rooney. He’s a fantastic captain and great for young players. He really helps us.
“I need to learn from a few more captains before I can think of being one myself.”
Dier knows a win against former world and European champs Spain will not make up for what happened at the Euros but he added: “A win would be a tonic for the nation. They are a fantastic side and this match will be a good measurement for us.
“You always want to measure yourselves against the best, both personally and as a team.”
But Dier knows this is just a friendly and that the real test of how they measure up to the best will come in a major tournament.
And in France last summer, they came up short. PORTUGAL wanted Eric Dier to play for them when he was at Sporting Lisbon.
The European champions made an approach to the Primeira Liga side to discover whether Dier might qualify for them on residential grounds.
And the Tottenham and England midfielder said: “Yes, Portugal did once sort of ask about me playing for them.
“It was when I was younger and they spoke to Sporting – but nothing really came of it.
“It would not have felt right and it was a bit late to turn around.
“I was very happy to be English and while I was very happy for them when they won the Euros, never once did I think, ‘I should be playing for Portugal.’
“But if England can’t win something, then I want Portugal to win.
“At Sporting I played with a lot of the Portugal lads who won the Euros.
“I played with goalkeeper Rui Patricio, Cedric – who is now at Southampton – and midfielders Adrien Silva, William Carvalho and Joao Mario, who is at Inter Milan now.
“I played with him and William all the way through from the youth teams.
“I also played against Andre Gomes, who is at Barcelona now.”
Dier grew up in Portugal and admits that his footballing brain is a bit foreign.
“I learned everything I know somewhere else,” said the Spurs ace.
“The way I grew up is the way I believe football should be played. It’s the Portuguese way.
“But I also believe in the Argentinian way or the Mauricio Pochettino way – my manager at Tottenham.
“I wasn’t a big fan, though, of Brazilians playing for Portugal. It happens a lot but they are not Portuguese.
“But I’m 100 per cent English.
“When I grew up I always had the idea that I would play for England.
“Portugal is my home but I’m fully English.
“I was born in England, my parents are English and my grandparents are English.
“I’m English – it’s pretty simple.”