Luke Shaw believes Wales could take lessons from England when it comes to showing class.
The Manchester United full-back admitted that Gareth Southgate’s players have an extra motivation to win their Battle of Britain clash with Rob Page’s team on Tuesday night because they haven’t forgotten the footage of them celebrating England’s shock Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland.
The leaked 30-second clip showed stars like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey revelling in English misery - and now it is payback time. England need to beat Wales at the Al Rayyan Stadium to qualify for the last 16 as group winners; a draw would also send them through; a defeat might even do it.
Wales have to win - and hope Iran’s clash with the United States ends in a draw. Otherwise their first World Cup for 64 years will be over.
Shaw, asked if England would ever celebrate like the Welsh in 2016, said: “I think we are a respectful group. We do things in the right way. That’s the example Gareth wants to set and we are all fully behind that. Does it give us any more motivation? I think you could say that.
“But our motivation in itself has to be at its highest level. We are at the World Cup. We have great aims for what we want to achieve. We have to have the maximum motivation at every game. I don’t think there’s any more motivation than what we have already.
“Of course, it (the video) wasn’t nice. But I don’t want to dwell too much on it. I want to focus on what we do on the pitch. We can say things in interviews but I’d rather do our talking on the pitch, rather than off it.”
Seven of the England players who were at the Euros six years ago are in Qatar. Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, John Stones, Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker, Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier will be reminding the rest of Southgate’s squad what is at stake.
Shaw, who missed the tournament in France because he was recovering from a broken leg, believes England’s experience of facing Scotland at the Euros in 2022 will be vital over the coming days.
The Three Lions were braced for criticism as soon as the final whistle sounded on their goalless draw with the USA on Friday night. It was a disappointing result on the back of the 6-2 mauling of Iran.
But England endured similar frustrations at the Euros - when they drew 0-0 with the Scots and still progressed to the final. Shaw said: “For people on the outside of our circle, drawing with the United States is going to look like the end of the world.
“But at the Euros we drew our second game - and look what happened from there. We know what we need to do. We wanted to beat the US. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that, but we kept a clean sheet and it’s an important point.
“We weren’t at our best. But if you look at the tournament and look at teams who have had games like this, you have to look at it as a positive point. It’s all in our hands. We need to keep positive and look at the next game.”
Shaw added: “Wales’ motivation is going to be extremely high. They are going to give everything to win. It’s not an easy game. But we need to focus on what we do and the talent we have, the depth we have.
“Like I have said, we can’t let the last result be the end of the world. We can’t be like that. We need to stick together, be confident, be positive and be ready for Wales. If we prepare properly, we should win the game.”
