READY FOR TAKE-OFF
Southgate insists England can take on anyone less than a year after being bombarded with paper planes in Wembley qualifier
GARETH SOUTHGATE insists England are ready to compete with the world’s best – after being pelted with paper aeroplanes less than a year ago.
Tomorrow’s last-16 showdown with Colombia marks the biggest test of his 18-month reign.
But Southgate pointed to how far the team have come in the short space of time since bored fans launched their aerial protest at Wembley during a laboured win over Slovenia in October.
Three Lions supporters also shouted abuse at the team bus after a lacklustre qualifier in Malta, despite a late goal rush bringing a 4-0 victory.
Southgate believes the overall progress of the players should be remembered, saying: “They’ve been able to change perceptions of how an England team might play. We mustn’t lose sight of that.
“Ten months ago we qualified and people were throwing paper aeroplanes on to the pitch at Wembley.
“We were driving back to our hotel in Malta with some obscene chants being thrown at us from supporters. I feel like we’ve started to connect the team with the public again.
“I feel we’ve created excitement, like we’ve played in a style that’s really shown an expression of what young English players are capable of, and I want us to continue doing that. I really believe in the group of players we’ve got.
“They’re young. They’re inexperienced. For some of them, this will be one of the biggest games they will have been involved in. But maybe not the biggest.
“We always have to keep that context for the players.
“In a tournament, the games are always going to be tight and hinge on small moments. But also generally the better teams have won.
“We have to set our minds to control what we can and keep the level of performance as we’ve had it.”
Southgate (below) was in no doubt his men were good enough to beat a team like Colombia, with world-class players such as James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao in their ranks, if they go on the front foot.
England deliberately set up tough friendlies with Germany, Brazil and Spain to raise the level for the players ahead of a tournament.
He added: “If there’s one thing I can instil in my players it’s that I want them, in this game, to attack the game and show people how good they might be. And not walk off the field thinking, ‘I wish I’d just tried things that I had been trying up to this point’. Up to this point, it has stood us in good stead.
“I think that’s why it’s important to play top opposition, because you learn so much more from those games. And you can benchmark yourselves a little bit better.
“We haven’t suddenly become not the youngest team in the tournament overnight, or not the least experienced. We’re still progressing. But we’re here in the knockout phase.
“Most of the big teams are here still. Not all of them. So we’re going to be involved in the games we want to be involved in, and that’s hugely exciting for us.
“We have to have belief in the way we’ve been playing. The challenges do step up. But, over the last year or so, we’ve played France and Spain, Germany and Brazil, and played those teams for a reason – to prepare for this moment.
“It’s not a step up to a level that we’ve not experienced before.”