Southgate ‘PLAY WITHOUT FEAR, BOYS’
TOMORROW, BBC1, KO 7PM
Heads Together mental health charity – thanking him.
But the defender admits his mum Angela wasn’t happy he didn’t tell her and, in hindsight, he would have made his revelations after the World Cup.
He said: “My mum was upset, yeah, because she didn’t know but the family are over the moon that I’m fine and I’m about to play at the World Cup. The reaction I had was overwhelming and has made me ever so grateful for the support. But I think the timing – maybe I should have done it after.
“I’ve had so many nice messages from people who’ve said it has helped them in a way I’ll never know. That’s been pretty emotional.” GARETH SOUTHGATE sends his players into World Cup battle against Tunisia tomorrow telling them: “Go for it.”
The England boss will give his players their final instructions after flying into Volgograd today and his positive message will be to play without fear.
Southgate (above) said: “Whenever you represent England or any other country there’s expectation, there’s hope, you carry the dreams of a nation.
“So it’s impossible to say to any player ‘you can go out and play without any feeling of pressure or any feeling or fear’.
“But what you have to do is make sure that doesn’t control you and that you go for it in your performances.”
Past England teams have been weighed down by the burden of expectation but Southgate and his staff have worked hard to create an atmosphere which eradicates the fear of failure.
High on Southgate’s agenda will be to make sure his stars maintain the upbeat vibe around their camp — by beating the Tunisians.
And, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Costa already making a play for the Golden Boot, Southgate will look to Harry Kane to stamp his mark on the World Cup.
Real Madrid star Ronaldo scored a hat-trick for Portugal in a 3-3 draw against Spain and former Chelsea star Costa grabbed two.
All eyes will be on Kane to break his tournament duck after playing all four games at Euro 2016 in France without scoring.
Southgate said: “A goalscorer like Harry is worth his weight in gold. He is a great leader. He is meticulous, he wants to be the best he can. And his stats tell us he’s heading that way, so of course he is a key player.
“Equally, we have other stories in our camp which I think help to take the pressure away from him.
“Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy. It’s important it isn’t just one story.”