Proud Pickford: Beaten, but we’ve come so far

Wearsider Jordan Pickford was devastated by England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia.

But he saluted the “passion” shown by Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions in their impressive march to the last four.

Everton’s former Sunderland goalkeeping star told ITV: “We’ve shown pride and passion. Look at the fans there – there was a lump in the throat and the hairs on my neck stood up watching the fans at the end. They know we’ve got beaten, but we’ve come so far.”

On Croatia’s equaliser, Pickford – from Washington – questioned whether Ivan Perisic could have been penalised for a foul on Kyle Walker, adding: “Maybe it was a high foot against ‘Walks’...”

Reflecting on the 2-1 extratime loss, after leading with a superb Kieran Trippier freekick, Pickford added:“It’s an experience for us. “There’s nothing better than getting an early goal, but we needed the next one. We had some good chances but never put them away. “If we’d got that goal before half-time, or in the first 15 minutes of the second half, you might have the opportunity to win the game.

“They (Croatia) are a threat going forward and showed a bit in the second half – and we weathered some storms.”

Croatian star Perisic was relieved by his side’s successful turnaround, after looking in trouble at half-time.

The 29-year-old, who hit Croatia’s equaliser, said: “It was a very difficult game. We all know what was at stake and how important a semifinal is for a small country like Croatia.

“We started slowly, but we’ve shown our character, just as we have in the previous two knockout rounds when we were one goal down in both matches. We didn’t used to be that resilient.

“Twenty years ago I was back in Omis, my home town.

“I rooted for Croatia, wearing a Croatia jersey, and I could only dream of playing for my country and scoring one of the most important goals to send us to a final.”