ALLI’S ICE
3 Lions looking to the future as they
JESSE LINGARD knows the pain of failure – but he also knows the fruits of delight.
So he is hoping England can have the fans dancing once more after their winner-takes-all battle with Croatia at Wembley today.
His wonder goal against USA on Thursday night was one of the highlights of a surprisingly enjoyable friendly that also had its fair share of emotion as Wayne Rooney waved goodbye to the international stage.
Lingard, who had witnessed Rooney’s qualities first-hand when they played at Manchester United, was bowled over by the occasion but now he has his sights on Croatia – the team that beat England in the World Cup semi-final in July.
Their shock 3-2 win over Spain on Thursday has added spice to this afternoon’s clash which is now on a knife-edge.
Lingard, 25, said: “That result helped us and if we win against Croatia we go through to a semi-final and we all know what semi-finals are about. I think we’ve learnt from the World Cup and we are carrying on the momentum now.
“This gives us a chance of winning the Nations League trophy but every game and every tournament we get put in we want to win the match and win that tournament.
“We’re top five in the world and if we can go far in this competition we’ll move up the rankings.
“For us it’s about still learning, still progressing, learning week-in week-out. We want to build on the momentum of last summer. “There are a lot of young players in the squad who want to carry on learning and carry on winning things. “We saw Wayne’s attitude, which was spot-on.
“He said previously that he enjoyed watching us play and enjoyed watching all summer. So we’ve kind of put a new spring in everyone’s step. “Winning this trophy won’t make up for the World Cup but every game is a learning curve. We’ve learnt from that game against Croatia and put on a good performance over there and hopefully we can do the same this time.” Lingard has been highly impressed by the skill and quality of winger Jadon Sancho and the pair shared an impromptu celebration dance after the Red Devil’s gloriously crafted curling shot, reminiscent of his effort against Panama in the World Cup. He added: “With this squad, anyone who comes in settles really quickly and adapts, as Jadon did.
“The dance is a special dance by a US rapper. I like to think I have more of those goals to come.
“I enjoy football regardless so to score is a bonus. In training we practise different goalscoring scenarios so to be put in that situation, you strike the ball.”
Lingard loves being around England’s vibrant squad and added: “It’s a young environment but at the same time there’s a lot of people with a lot of experience who have played in some big games, like Jadon playing week-in, week-out in the German league.
“He’s gaining that experience. To play on a stage like this is natural to him.”
Lingard loved Rooney being around the camp once more and added: “It’s sad he never won a trophy with England but it’s a different generation now.
“But just to have his presence around the squad these past few days has been great. Everyone has looked up to him. “He gave us advice and encouragement and reiterated he was very impressed with us in the summer. It got everyone excited and to hear that off a legend is excellent and makes us want to improve.
“There’s a great hunger in the squad to play, the lads get on well and each day in training we’re competitive and we have that winning streak. So when it comes to the weekend and the team is picked everyone is ready to go.
“No-one can feel they have nailed down a place. With the players we’ve got it’s all so fluid and rotational. People can play in various positions and do so.
“We want another summer like the last one. Yeah definitely. Party summer!”