REACH FOR THE BRONZE
It’s been an incredible journey . . . now let’s sign off in style
Gareth SouthGate has been urged to push for an unprecedented bronze medal and finish england’s World Cup campaign with a flourish.
tomorrow’s third-place play- off against Belgium was yesterday described by former skipper alan Shearer as ‘utter stupidity’ and ‘the last thing any player wants’.
But former england manager terry Venables told Sportsmail: ‘It would be so uplifting if we can finish with a flourish and a victory against Belgium. You cannot argue it is a match of no significance. It is a World Cup showpiece and we must play to win, as always with england.
‘I do not know Gareth’s team plan but he will be anxious to leave russia with a victory. third place is worth going for. It is the least the country will expect, particularly as Belgium beat us and seemed to enjoy it in our
earlier group meeting.’ Fellow
Sportsmail columnist — and former England defender — Martin Keown agreed, saying: ‘I would urge Gareth to pick his A-team and go for it. The goal was to win the World Cup. Now the target must be to finish third. If you want to breed a winning mentality, you cannot settle for fourth place. This feels like a new beginning and this is a perfect chance to end the tournament on a high. Harry Kane will be determined to beat Romelu Lukaku to the Golden Boot. This is a chance for England to prove they are better than Belgium. ‘They may have hit a fence in the semi-final but they can learn to jump the next one as a group.’ Kane is the tournament’s top scorer on six goals, two ahead of Lukaku. The captain, who is not carrying an injury, said: ‘Everyone will want to play but the manager
will make his decision.’ Jordan Pickford hopes to win the Golden Glove award given to the best goalkeeper and also wants to play. ‘We want to finish a great tournament on a high,’ he said. ‘We can’t finish the best team in the world but we can still be the third best.’ While the Three Lions finished fourth at Italia 90, England’s women came third at the World Cup in 2015 and striker Eni Aluko responded to Shearer’s comments on Twitter, replying: ‘I am sure they’ll change their minds on the importance of the game if/when they get a bronze medal. There’s 23 women who I am sure all still (enjoy) theirs from 2015. I am one of them.’ Southgate is expected to make changes to reward his squad players for their patience. Trent Alexander-Arnold is in line to make his second appearance in place of Kieran Trippier, who injured his groin against Croatia. Eric Dier and Danny Rose are also pushing for starts.