Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Dele: We’ve got the players and we’ve got the manager to become best team in world
STAR’S STRIVING FOR GREAT THINGS
DELE ALLI can hardly be described as one of football’s nearly men.
At the age of 22, Tottenham’s England midfielder is recognised as one of the game’s stellar talents.
He has played in a World Cup semi-final and the ink on a £100,000-a-week contract is barely dry.
But, as Alli embarks on a period of games that will go a long way towards defining his season for both club and country, his eyes are firmly on the prizes.
A trophy for Spurs and a place for England at the top of the FIFA rankings are ambitions that he believes are achievable.
“We have proved that we can beat the best teams in the world,” said Alli, as he looked ahead to today’s Nations League clash with Croatia.
“Our aim is to be recognised as the No.1 team in the world. It’s going to be a difficult challenge, but we believe in ourselves and we believe in the talent and the manager we’ve got here.
“Anything is possible, but we’ve got to keep working hard.
“I believe we’ve got some of the best players in the world.
“We are all fighting together and working together – in every game and in every training session – to get to that goal.
“This game is another stepping stone for us. Croatia are a great
team, but we know we are still improving and the aim is to keep ticking boxes.”
Alli’s England aims are admirable, given he was also part of the squad that returned home from Euro 2016 in shame after being eliminated by Iceland.
He added: “Being knocked out of the World Cup was a big disappointment – but the Euros was a lot worse.
“Going to France in 2016 was one of the best experiences of my life – but also the worst.
“All the players tried to bury it, forget about it as soon as it happened, but that takes time.
“But when Gareth came in, we all relived it. He made us watch the game back and spoke about how you have to go through those times.
“It was the first time I had watched the game back, to be honest. You just want the floor to open and eat you up. You want to hide forever. It was a
tough watch. Nobody was talking. But it definitely improved us and I think it helped everyone.
“We don’t look back on it with such anger now.”
Southgate has worked hard to instil the kind of belief that saw his young side build on a summer which had the nation falling back in love with the Three Lions.
A goalless draw with Croatia in Rijeka in October was encouraging and a 3-2 victory over Spain in Sevilla, a few days later, lifted England up to fifth place in the rankings.
Alli missed both games with a hamstring injury, but he has since committed himself to Spurs by signing a new deal to keep him at the club for another six years.
It’s clear he also has unfinished business, with games against Chelsea, Inter Milan and Arsenal approaching.
Alli said: “Obviously, everyone wants to win trophies – it hasn’t happened at Tottenham yet.
“The manager (Mauricio Pochettino), the new stadium, the players you are playing with. I only see myself improving. It’s a place I want to be.
“We’re not perfect yet, we know we have still got things to improve and work on as a team.
“But I also think that we are not that far away from winning trophies.
“There are some tough fixtures ahead and we feel that we haven’t played as well as we can.
“But we have probably showed a different side to our game. We’ve been getting results and are close to challenging for trophies.”