Gareth Southgate has made it clear to his players they need to keep up the good work following their UEFA Nations League triumph over Croatia at the Wembley stadium.
Andrej Kramaric’s 57th minute strike had England on the back foot as the Three Lions were on the verge of relegating to the League B. But Jesse Lingard’s equaliser at the stroke of the 78th minute brought life into the game and Harry Kane’s 85 minute winner rounded off a brilliant comeback to send England to the finals of the Nations League.
Southgate’s second grand success proved the English man is the right man to take the mantle forward. On the back of a successful World Cup England once again proved they are here to stay.
Southgate said, “I am very proud first and foremost.
“It thought we dictated a lot of the game and had some good chances in the first half and should have been ahead.
“We then let a soft goal in and it is a real test of resilience and patience, and for all the great football that we played, we scored from a long throw – maybe we are not a new England, maybe we are more like the England of old!
“I am very proud of what the players have done, not just today, but throughout the whole year. People can see the spirit and I have not heard Wembley like that for a long time.
“We have come out of a very tough group. You can look at the one with France and Germany, but if you look at form and world rankings, ours is the toughest, so this is a real step forward – we have not just sat back after the summer, we have progressed. The players are hungry and are starting to believe. People can see the style, people are starting to believe in what we are doing.
“We have a had a very good year, but we have to make sure that is just the start.”
