Gareth is full of pride in 3 Lions
register now. Maybe they know now that I tell the truth.”
Southgate, though, insisted: “The fact that we are in the World Cup semi-final doesn’t mean we are in the top four in the world.
“We are not the finished article. We want to keep improving. We are a young team and we don’t have world-renowned players.
“But we’ve got an outstanding mentality. When you look at what we went through emotionally and physically against Colombia the other night, what you have just seen is a sign of resilience in a young side.
“It is a privilege for me to be manager of England. It’s great what we are doing in bringing the country together.
“I am very proud of this group – the staff and the players.”
Southgate praised the way the Three Lions dealt with the build-up to the clash – and admits he has work to do before Wednesday’s semi-final.
He added: “It was a game I was concerned about because of the emotional and physical energy we had to exert against Colombia.
“We knew the game would be stop-start against Sweden.
“Defensively we dealt with most things well, and when we didn’t, our goalkeeper was outstanding.
“We created several opportunities in attack, even though the opposition made it difficult for us, and our football flowed well.
“Managing expectations is going to be difficult.
“We are privileged to be here and to be England manager is an honour. We are here because of the players as well of the staff.
“We have senior pros that haven’t played as much but have carried on with smiles on their faces and we are here because of them as well as the boys that have featured more.”
He was also happy that England showed they could cope with a new challenge from the one they faced last Tuesday night.
And Southgate revealed his delight at Dele Alli’s return to top form.
He said: “We knew it was going to be such a different game after having extra time and penalties against Colombia with all the emotion and the energy.
“We had to withstand a lot of physical pressure but the resilience of the team was crucial.
“We knew we would have the majority of the ball and it was a case of breaking them down because Sweden are a really well organised team.
“I’m really pleased for Dele. He is best at making those runs for the goal and he can finish.
“I’m really pleased for him because that’s been some drought for him.”