Gareth Southgate has warned England’s players are out for revenge after Wales’ video celebration.
England face Wales in a Battle of Britain clash at the World Cup with Euro 2016 still fresh in the minds of Southgate’s players. The Wales squad were famously filmed celebrating England’s defeat to Iceland six years ago and now England have the chance to knock Wales out of the World Cup.
There are seven players - Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, John Stones and Kyle Walker - in the current squad who were involved in the Euro 2016 campaign.
When asked whether Southgate would use the Wales’ celebration in his team talk and pint it on the dressing room wall, the England boss laughed: “I couldn’t say. We are aware of some of that but I couldn’t say if we would use it or not…”
That was a low point in England’s recent history and Wales’ video nasty - with the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey celebrating their demise - went down spectacularly badly.
England actually beat Wales in the Group stages before Wales went on to reach the Euro semi finals. This is the first time two British teams have met at a World Cup and Wales must win to stand any chance of going through.
But Southgate dismissed any notion that England have not got as much passion as Wales who are making their first appearance at a World Cup in 64 years.
Southgate, who was asked whether the Wales players are more fired up and sing their national anthem louder, said: “They have a great anthem to be fair. It’s stirring.
“I think if people want to say that then no problem but they wouldn’t know our dressing room very well. Or any of the England dressing rooms I was in as a player. That’s an easy narrative for people to say but it’s not my experience of it.”
Three Lions boss Southgate admits that he expects the showdown to be a “derby” and a “cup tie” rolled into one in the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.
England are expected to win, Wales have looked a spent force in their first two Group games but Southgate remembers all too well what happened in 2016 to take anything for granted.
Southgate was working then as a UEFA match observer, was at the game and expects the rivalry to be a great leveller for a match which will ultimately decide the fate of both teams at this World Cup.
“Cup ties can be (a leveller) but we have to make sure our emotional focus on what we do well. I think our boys have got experience of these types of games,” said Southgate.
“When we played Scotland at the Euros, physically they found a level they hadn’t found before and couldn’t find in the game after. So that is the nature of this game.
“But you have to ride through that and make sure our quality counts and we are composed in our play. You have to match the spirit and display the quality with the ball that allows us to be ruthless.”
Southgate is also well aware that all eyes are on England in a way that does not happen in the Premier League. They were crowned as potential winners after sticking six past Iran and then came crashing down to earth after being held by the United States.
It was a similar story in last year’s Euros when England kicked off with a win against Croatia, were held by Scotland and there was doom and gloom before they beat Czech Republic and it all kicked off from there as they went all the way to the final.
Southgate said: “We are 32 teams. There are probably 26 teams in crisis at the moment! That’s a World Cup, every individual country will have their own support entirely focused. This is one of the things you have to handle in a tournament.
“In a club, there are 20 stories on a Premier League Saturday. And when you are in a World Cup there is only one. And you have to live with that and be strong enough to come through that and be calm enough to come through that as a group of players.
“We are fortunate that a lot of our players have lived it. For some, it’s a second tournament, a third for some and this type of situation has always been there.
“It’s rare that we have won every game and scored as many goals as we want. To be honest you are never sitting comfortably and if we were that would be a worry because you don’t want that comfort. You need an edge.
“Any England game has a highly motivated opponent and I don’t really see this being any different to how the game was the other night. The opponent was huge in terms of their desire to beat England.
“When I started six years ago everybody told me that the national football didn’t matter so I think we have helped to create that feeling that it does matter again and people are connected to it and want to watch us. That is a positive.”
Southgate was just an interested observer at Euro 2016 but took over the reigns three months later and, in the six and a half years that have followed, he has managed to put England back among the favourites at major tournaments.
But Southgate says they must find a balance between the thumping win over Iran and the stalemate against the United States. He also expects a different game against Wales from their meeting in 2016.
“No two games are the same,” he said. “We recognise we are focusing on our performance, we have to play well, we want to put the two parts of our game together, we have shown the first game how we can attack.
“We showed another side to ourselves in the second game and we have to merge those two things as we go through the tournament to be a serious contender in the championship.”
