the moment, the win in the World Cup is the ultimate whereas, in actual fact, historically, we looked at it as the benchmark,” said Southgate.
“We are a small island and even in rugby and cricket we’ve had a brilliant run. The rugby team – huge credit to them. They’ve only managed to win once and, with respect, there are fewer countries that are capable of winning.
“So, it’s hard to win and that’s got to be our aim. We’ve got to now raise the bar for the next decades to make sure they are more successful than the previous ones.
“But we can’t have that arrogance that maybe we’ve had over the years that we have a right to be in those latter stages.
“We have to earn it.”
As he prepares for this week’s landmark game,
Southgate still remembers how playing for England was his ultimate dream.
“When we went to the National Football Museum last week, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But when you walk around it and see the history you’ve been involved in, you have an understanding that we’re talking over 100 years.
“It’s still only 1,200 players who have ever had the chance to do it, I think 20 managers, probably less. So, as a kid, all I wanted to do was play for
England. That was from coming home from school and watching them play in 1982 in the World Cup.
“Whenever I played I was always thinking beforehand: 56 million people or whatever it was in the country, you’re one of 11 standing there belting out the national anthem.
“So, to be able to play in a poignant match like this and to have so many of our former players coming is lovely for them. I know what that will mean to them.”
SIGN OF THE TIMES Germans with Nazi salute at White Hart Lane in 1935; (right) howler by Ray Clemence in 1976 and Gascoigne netting in 1993
Match No.14 – 18 Feb, 1882 – Ireland 0 England 13 (Belfast)
Match No.287 – 23 May, 1954 – Hungary 7 England 1 (Budapest)
Match No.65 – 18 Feb, 1899 – England 13 Ireland 2 (Roker Park, Sunderland)
Match No.13 – 12 Mar, 1881 – England 1 Scotland 6 (Kennington Oval, London)
Most Games – Scotland (114)
Most Wins – Wales (67)
Most Draws – Scotland (25)
Most Defeats – Scotland (41)
Most Goals – Wales (247)
Most Goals Conceded – Scotland (174)
Most Games without losing – Bulgaria (12)
Most Games without winning – Saudi Arabia (2)
Best 100% Win % – Luxembourg (9 wins out of 9)
Worst Win % (5+ games) – Brazil (15% – 4 wins in 26 games)
GARETH SOUTHGATE is not yet ready to put any of his current squad into England’s best-ever XI.
Southgate’s men will host the landmark 1,000th England international against Montenegro at Wembley and legends such as Peter Shilton, David Beckham, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Sir Geoff Hurst have all been invited as guests of honour.
But Southgate, who won 57 caps,
RAIN NOT SHINE Steve Mcclaren, Kevin Keegan and Graham Taylor all struggled at helm
MATCH 1… 30 Nov 1872 Scotland 0-0 England, Hamilton Crescent
100… 5 Mar 1909 England 2-0 Wales, City Ground
200... 4 Dec 1935 England 3-0 Germany, White Hart Lane
300... 2 Nov 1955 England 3-0 Northern Ireland, Wembley
400... 26 June 1966 Finland 0-3 England, Helsinki Olympic Stadium
500... 15 May 1976 Scotland 2-1 England, Hampden Park
600... 25 May 1985 Scotland 1-0 England, Hampden Park
700... 8 Sept 1993 England 3-0 Poland, Wembley
800... 29 March 2003 Liechtenstein 0-2 England, Rheinpark Stadion
900... 7 Oct 2011 Montenegro 2-2 England, Podgorica City Stadium
1,000... This week, Thurs 14 Nov 2019 England v Montenegro, Wembley insisted that the great players he played with during the 1990s and the Golden Generation would get into the current team despite England reaching the World Cup semi-final last year.
Harry Kane is now England captain and on course to break goalscoring records while Raheem Sterling is regarded as world class.
But when Southgate was asked to name the best England XI of players he played with, the England boss replied:
P W D L GF GA Win % Overall 999 568 241 190 2188 984 56.9 Home 433 279 93 61 1053 387 64.4 Away 442 242 109 91 973 467 54.8 Neutral 124 47 39 38 162 130 37.9 Competitive 577 338 138 101 1280 508 58.6 Non-competitive 422 230 103 89 908 476 54.5
“Not a chance, not a chance, most would get into the team we’ve now, that’s for certain.
“These are the debates that you don’t want to get involved in. I’ve played with some of the greats of the last 25 years. If you looked at Beckham (right), Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Gazza, it was hard enough to get four into a midfield that time, wasn’t it, without going through the other generations of players.’’
SUITED Big Sam will be at Wembley for showpiece