Gareth Southgate has told his players on the eve of the World Cup: anything is possible.
Three Lions boss Southgate has got that motto stitched into a specially made pair of trainers he was wearing around the England camp on Sunday.
And Southgate also issued a rallying cry ahead of England’s opening game with Iran as he reminded the nation of how far they have come - and they are determined to go one step further.
England have gone from Euro flops in 2016 to reaching the World Cup semi-final four years ago and were only beaten on penalties in the Euros final last year.
But Southgate says he wants to make the so-called Impossible Job look possible by winning the World Cup in Qatar and then leave a lasting legacy of success.
Southgate said: “Maybe we’ve made the impossible just look possible, would be the analogy.
“Yeah, look, maybe we’ve made it look possible and it’s exciting for other people and I can understand that. We want England to be competitive for years to come and I believe that our academy system has got that.
“I think there are challenges within that because we’re back to 31 per cent of the league being eligible for England and only four or five exports of a high level so there are still some challenges for us in terms of development of players and opportunity for players.
“But we have also got some good players and we should be competitive for the next six, eight years with this group.”
Southgate also stressed that players should feel “special” and enjoy making history by playing at the World Cup.
He added: “We remind ourselves of the privilege of being here and the uniqueness of it. only sixteen England teams have ever been to a World Cup.
“A lot of the staff and players are at their second. Raheem is at his third. You have to remind yourself of this moment in time. Tournament football is different.”
Southgate hails "leader" Maguire
Harry Maguire has been hailed as a “strong leader” who is crucial to England’s World Cup hopes.
Maguire has lost his starting place at Manchester United but there are no such similar doubts within the England camp.
England boss Southgate said: “He’s technically a fantastic footballer with the ball, he’s a very strong leader in the team, his physical stature, the aerial challenge is one: we haven’t got anybody else with that physical presence.
“There is also the relationships with other players in the defence which are also part of your thinking when you’re picking a team, because that understanding you don’t have long to work on and the more those relationships are there over a period of time I think it is helpful.”
Southgate calls on England stars to share responsibility
Gareth Southgate has claimed ANYONE could deliver England’s pre-match team talk.
England boss Southgate was stressing the importance of trying to make a winning start against Iran as they kick off their World Cup campaign.
But Southgate admitted that even a “pub landlord” could get the players in the mood because they will be so fired up for it anyway.
Southgate, whose side scraped a narrow 2-1 win against Tunisia four years ago, said: “Frankly, we could get any landlord in any pub to deliver that.
“It’s what we do if we have a moment like we did against Tunisia where we started really well and then out of the blue there’s a penalty conceded and now we’re 1-1 and how are we going to be?
“They are the things we’ve had to remind the players of, that these games … England have often started really well, actually, and then been pegged back.
“We’ve managed, in our last two tournaments, to win that first match. It obviously keeps things calmer but it doesn’t mean you’re through. You’ve still got to get through these three games and get enough points.
“That’s now our challenge. We’ve talked a lot about what we might do, big picture stuff, but now the focus has got to be the group and Iran in particular.
“Everyone wants to win the first game but our last two were really tight and our target is to get out of the Group.”
