Ramsey heroes are inspiring the class of 2018
Southgate and team are fired by emulating glory Kane demands side write their own history
England’s remarkable World Cup campaign is being inspired by the heroes of 1966 as the current squad attempt to emulate their triumph.
Gareth Southgate’s side face Croatia in the semi-final in Moscow on Wednesday with captain Harry Kane vowing that England are “not finished yet” and are determined to win the World Cup.
The 1966-winning team remain the most famous collection of players in England’s history, with Southgate revealing the impact they have had on him and acknowledging that football’s greater global reach in 2018 means his squad would become even bigger stars if they could match that historic achievement.
“We’ve talked, touched briefly, certainly, on the team which won the World Cup,” said England’s manager. “How they’re still held and revered.
“We’ve had events on when we’ve been in camp, when some of those guys have been in, when the road was named at St George’s after Sir Alf Ramsey. I’ve met quite a few of those players and we know exactly how they’re held.
“Perhaps in the modern era that would be even crazier, social media and everything else. The global thing is so much bigger.”
It was 1990 when England last qualified for the semi-finals of a World Cup and that team, including the likes of Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne, returned home to national acclaim.
Kane has been inspired by the achievements of Lineker and Sir Geoff Hurst, scorer of a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final, both of whom he has met, but reiterated the fact this squad want to write their own history.
“It’s amazing to meet any heroes from ’66 and it gives you so much inspiration,” said Kane. “Obviously it’s been a long time since England have done well in a major tournament. We’ve got a tough game coming up against Croatia, but we feel confident.
“I’m proud to make ex-players proud and I’m sure it’s bringing back memories for them and for Gary, when he was in the semi-final. But, look, we said we wanted to write our own history and, hopefully, we can go one step further and get to the final. Nobody wants to go home, we are not finished yet. We want to go all the way and we are excited to try and do that.”
Hurst believes England can now go all the way. “Where we are today, I would say, categorically, quite clearly, we can win it, without a shadow of a doubt,” he said yesterday.
“The leadership at the top is vital. We had a terrific manager in Alf Ramsey, who had a great system and he selected a team that could be successful and had good characters.
“We’ve seen the leadership with Gareth Southgate being very impressive, which has engendered a good team spirit. That seems to be quite evident, with what he says, how the team are celebrating with each other – we’re not seeing any bad stories.”
England’s progress to the semifinals has sparked wild scenes of celebration all over the country, with the squad catching up with the reaction of the fans via the internet and social media, which Dele Alli has admitted give him “the shivers”.
“It gives me the shivers when I think about it. We owe them a lot of thanks as well for the way they have supported us.
“We have seen the reactions back home and it’s been unbelievable, so we will hopefully give them many more great moments.
“We want to achieve a lot more, I think that’s the great thing. We are a hungry squad, we want to keep achieving and improving together.
“We are not the finished article, but we’ve got to the semi-finals of the World Cup so we are excited.”
Tottenham Hotspur pair Kane and Alli were part of the Euro 2016 team that were booed at Premier League grounds around the country after losing to Iceland and returning from the tournament.
But Southgate and his players have turned the bad feeling towards the national team on its head with their performances in Russia.
“We feel proud to make the fans proud,” said Kane. That’s what we wanted to do when we set out.
“We wanted to play good football. We wanted to work hard, play with passion and we feel we have done that, so we are enjoying it.
“We can see the fans, we are enjoying it here, back home and so we have just got to try and keep it going. We are one step closer to what
is the biggest game in football as a professional.”
It was put to Kane that even Arsenal fans have fallen in love with him during the last three weeks and the 24-year-old is delighted to have helped unite the nation behind Southgate’s squad.
“As a player and as a professional I know that I have a job, on and off the pitch, to inspire people and inspire kids watching this tournament,” he said. “It’s amazing because I was one of those kids growing up who wanted to play for England so to be here now, leading this team out, I’m so proud.
“I know that the family are proud. My missus back home is so proud, she is obviously gutted that she can’t be here.
“But we are just looking forward to finishing strong and whatever happens, to being able to say that we are proud of each other.”
Asked how he will prepare his team for trying to reach the final and keep his players’ focus on the task in hand, Southgate said: “I think they know what they want to do.
“They know they stand on a moment of history and they are desperate to do as well as they possibly can. They don’t need any motivation for this now.
“It’s all there, it’s all apparent and we’ve just got to prepare them as well as we can for the game.”