Lineker’s rallying cry as he flies flag for England
GA RY L I N E K E R today issued a passionate rallying cry ahead of England’s last-16 World Cup match against Colombia tomorrow.
Holding the flag of St George in Moscow’s Red Square, the Match of the Day host said “come on England” and urged the country to get behind the team.
The former striker, 57, told the Standard: “Of course I will proudly hold up the England flag.” But the ex-England skipper and 1986 Golden Boot winner urged fans to be patient. “Tomorrow’s game will be an attempt to win a knockout match at a major tournament for the first time in 12 years. Enough said,” added Lineker, who is hosting the BBC World Cup coverage from Moscow.
Another former England captain Alan Shearer, 47, now a Match of the Day pundit, happily signed autographs for locals as he arrived for work at the BBC studios opposite Red Square.
Shearer, 47, praised Harry
Kane and said his hattrick in Russia, putting him alongside Geoff
Hurst and Lineker, was one of his highlights of the
2018 competition so far.
It came as England players celebrated Danny Rose’s 28th birthday on the training pitch as they prepared to fly to Moscow. The squad formed a circle around the Tottenham fullback and gave a round of applause at the Spartak Zelenogorsk Stadium this morning.
They swapped shorts and T-shirts for long-sleeve shirts, jogging bottoms, hats and gloves as temperatures dropped to around 11C. It was the final training session near their Repino base before heading to the Russian capital this afternoon. The Colombia game kicksoff at 7pm UK time tomorrow, with temperatures set to be around 20C.
England and Colombian fans were today arriving in Moscow in their thousands. Sisters Karen and Diana Moreno, from Bogota, who have been following their team since the competition started, believe they will cruise past England. “We should have won our group with nine points but foolishly lost the opening match,” said Karen, 33. “We have a fast and classy team. I think we will beat England 3-0,” added Diana, 30.
Despite Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev’s vow to crack down on ticket touts, they were today openly operating in Red Square. One, an Algerian calling himself Mehdi, was trying to sell a match ticket for €150 despite the area being heavily policed.