Gareth Southgate: England need to follow up with performance in quarter-finals of Euros
Gareth Southgate felt his England players deserved a lot of credit after beating Germany 2-0 at Wembley Stadium tonight, but insists they need to back it up in Rome on Saturday.
The former Crystal Palace defender named South London-born Jadon Sancho on the bench, but he did not come on.
England’s first goal came when Raheem Sterling tapped home after being cleverly picked out by Luke Shaw, before former Millwall loanee Harry Kane added a second with a well-placed header, with five minutes remaining.
The Three Lions will now face either Sweden or Ukraine in the quarter finals in Rome on Saturday.
Speaking to the BBC, Southgate said: “It was a brilliant afternoon that brought joy to the nation. The players were absolutely immense right the way through the team and the fans were as well.
“There was only 40,000 in Wembley today but it’s as good an atmosphere that I can remember. We played extremely well and deserved to win.
“I’ve had to say to them straightaway, I’m the party pooper because if we don’t capitalise on that on Saturday now, it doesn’t count for anything.
“We had to go about the game in the way we believed. We wanted aggressive pressure all over the field and we felt to match them up was the way of doing that. We felt like speed in behind, would cause them a problem. Bukayo [Saka] and Raheem [Sterling] right from the start created that jeopardy in their backline.
“We knew they were going to have moments of possession because they have really good experienced footballers. But the whole team defended incredibly, from the goalkeeper right the way through.
“It was a fabulous performance, I can’t give enough credit to the players.
“Raheem has been immense for us over the last three years. He knows we have faith in him. His performances have been electric right from the start.
“For Harry [Kane], his goal was really important moment for him. When you’re a centre forward, you need those goals. I was pleased to see the second goal go in, I have to say.
“I’m just so pleased. For the team-mates that played with me [at Euro 96], I can’t change that [missing a penalty against Germany] so that’s always going to hurt. But what’s lovely is we’ve given people another day to remember and now we have to go and do it in Rome.”
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