Gareth Southgate insists his England squad will draw on the childhood dream of playing at a World Cup for inspiration to go all the way in Qatar.
The Three Lions have enjoyed a stellar few years in tournament football, reaching the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup and falling short on penalties in the final of Euro 2020.
But there has been doubt over whether or not England can repeat such triumphs, let alone win the tournament, which Southgate also believes will fuel his players over the next month.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, Southgate explained: “With the players we want to talk to them about the excitement of going to a World Cup.
“I think we understand the need to comment on the off-field things that surround this tournament, but we want the players to feel that enthusiasm that they’ve had since kids, that struck me when I was speaking to them, for better or worse, about going to a World Cup and what it means.”
“We want to fuel that,” he added: “We just want them to transition from a hectic club schedule to thinking about England. We want to talk to them about the fact that this, whatever happens over the next four weeks, has been the second best period for English football. We can make it the best.”
Southgate continued, drawing on the previous World Cup’s atmosphere among fans and the importance of taking fans on another journey which he described as ‘special’.
England kick off their World Cup campaign on 21 November with a clash against Iran.
Add Comment