Gareth Southgate is desperate to taste glory with England (Image: Getty)
Gareth Southgate says his team have the chance to become the greatest English side in history as they travel to Qatar looking to win a World Cup for the first time since 1966. The Three Lions are one of the favourites to claim glory in the Middle East, having coming agonisingly close to success recently after making it to the semi-finals in the competition in 2018 and to the final of the European Championships last year.
Speaking to the media after announcing his 26-man squad for the tournament, Southgate revealed what he would be telling his players in the coming days as he looks to inspire them to emulate the glory of Alf Ramsey's team, who won England's only World Cup on home soil 56 years ago.
“We want to talk to them so they know that, whatever happens over the next four weeks, they have already been part of the second best period in English football,” said Southgate.
“But now we can make it the best. That’s the only thing in my mind. It’s a challenge about how we take our supporters on another journey that they loved four years ago and that they loved last summer. That’s why we do it - and that’s what makes playing for England so special.
England agonisingly lost the Euros final on penalties (Image: Getty)
“We want to talk to the players about the excitement of going to a World Cup. We want the players to feel the enthusiasm that they have had since they were kids. That has struck me while speaking to them over the past couple of days - for better or worse about going to a World Cup and what it means. We want to fuel that.
“The first couple of days we won’t be on the training pitch, bar a couple who need to do something. We want them to transition into England following a hectic club schedule and to be excited about the tournament.”
Recently, footage of actor Michael Sheen delivering a passionate speech to England's Group B rivals Wales went viral. And Southgate joked that he may have a similar motivational idea up his sleeve. “Maybe we can go one better than Wales," he added.
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“I can’t say what. But look, we’re just really conscious of the transition. We’ve tried to let them get on with club business, even this week. I’ve had to make my calls that won’t affect club fixtures as much as possible. We’ve tried to be respectful and keep our distance.
“The players will get a chance to download and decompress for one day or so and we want them to do all the things that going to a World Cup involves..the suits, the photos…”
England will get their World Cup campaign underway on November 21st when they take on Iran, before facing USA on November 25th and Wales on the 29th, which they desperately hope will not be their final fixture in the tournament.
