Three Lions’ roars growing more menacing
Rousing run to Nations League semis has England boss purring
LONDON — Gareth Southgate hailed England’s maturity and resilience as Harry Kane fired his side into the Nations League semifinals with a dramatic 2-1 win over Croatia on Sunday.
England was on the brink of relegation to the second tier of the competition after Andrej Kramaric gave Croatia a second-half lead against the run of play at Wembley.
But Southgate’s vibrant young side pulled off a stirring escape act to gain a measure of revenge for its World Cup semifinal loss to Croatia earlier this year.
Jesse Lingard came off the bench to poach England’s equalizer and captain Kane was on hand to snipe the winner with five minutes left.
The win vaulted England above Spain to the top of Group A4 and relegated Croatia.
The Three Lions can now look forward to playing in the last four next June.
“I’m hugely proud. We’ve grown together. We’ve improved every step,” said Southgate.
“This was another big occasion. There was plenty of pressure, but we coped really well.
“We had good chances and should have been ahead. Then we had to show resilience to stay in the game. We saw it through with some maturity.
“They should be very proud of what they have done. This is a significant step for us.”
It was a cathartic moment for England, which has made a habit of painful losses to Croatia, with this year’s World Cup failure following the 2007 loss that cost it a place at Euro 2008.
More importantly, the performance provided further proof that Southgate is building a team capable of challenging for major honors after years of underachievement.
Southgate and his players have changed perceptions of the England team over the last year and the former Three Lions defender took pride in the jubilant response of fans to their victory.
“The most pleasing thing was the connection with the fans; I haven’t heard Wembley like that for years,” he said.
“We’ve given them some memorable days and nights this year. That energy really came back to the team when we needed it at the end today.”
‘Close to perfect’
England’s appearance in the semifinals of the Nations League, which are set to be held in Portugal in June, offers another chance to reach its first major final since winning the 1966 World Cup.
Following the 3-2 Nations League win over Spain in Seville last month, this tour- nament has been a serious statement of intent from Southgate’s team and it will go into 2019 with great expectations.
“We know where we sit; we aren’t perfect but we are improving,” Southgate said.
“Slowly we are starting to beat those top teams. We have learned so much from this year, because you have to be close to perfect to beat those teams.”
Despite dominating the first half, England fell behind in the 56th minute.
Kramaric was allowed time and space to turn in the area and the Hoffenheim forward took full advantage, clipping a shot that deflected off Eric Dier and looped over goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s desperate dive.
But England kept its composure, equalizing in the 78th minute when Lingard tapped in from Joe Gomez’s long throw.
England’s deserved winner arrived in the 85th minute.
Leftback Ben Chilwell curled over a teasing low freekick and Kane timed his run to perfection, guiding his shot past Lovre Kalinic from close range.
Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic claimed his side had paid the price for its exertions in Thursday’s win against Spain.
“It was very difficult for us to recover after the match against Spain. We don’t have such a big squad,” he said.
“In the last 15 minutes we lost concentration, which could be down to our condition physically.”
Referencing a popular England fans’ song, Dalic backed Southgate’s team to fulfill its potential soon.
“They have a young and fast team. It’s coming home, very soon!” he said.
I’m hugely proud. We’ve grown together. We’ve improved every step.”
Gareth Southgate, England manager