Gareth Southgate annoyed after question: “Creating drama”

England’s national team captain irritated before the quarter-finals

Published 2024-07-06 09.15

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DÜSSELDORF. England have never reached a final on foreign soil.

Gareth Southgate felt compelled to remind that following a question at his press conference.

– I would say that that is a classic example of the type of self-righteousness we have as a nation, says the national team captain.

It is when an (English) journalist asks whether Gareth Southgate has spoken to the England players regarding the golden chance they have of reaching the final because of the opposition that the national team captain chooses to highlight.

Seeing Switzerland and then the Netherlands or Turkey as “easier opposition” is why other countries bother England, Southgate believes.

– I would say that that is a classic example of the kind of self-righteousness we have as a nation, which creates drama and irritates our opponents, he says.

– We are playing once morest really strong, proud football nations who have played incredibly well and prepared well. Our focus is on “how do we win this game?” and “how can we play to our best ability?”.

Southgate recalls the fact that success has been few and far between for England.

– We have never made it to a final outside of England. We have only made it to the finals twice throughout history and three semi-finals, so many nations that we English people see as smaller have had far better results than us, he says.

– But we are ready for tomorrow. As a team, we definitely have a lot of respect for our opponents and we know that we need to be at our best to have a chance to win.

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helskärmGareth Southgate. Foto: Richard Pelham / Getty Images

Southgate on Bellingham: “Reasonable”

The union captain also commented on the case of Jude Bellingham.

It was in connection with the equalizing goal in the round of 16 once morest Slovakia that Bellingham was seen making a vulgar gesture.

Towards Slovakia’s bench or towards some friends? The latter, according to Bellingham himself.

The penalty from Uefa is a fine of just over SEK 350,000 and a conditional suspension that will only be served if the player is caught with another disciplinary violation.

Gareth Southgate believes that it was “a reasonable outcome” that Bellingham were not suspended.

– When you score a goal like that at such a stage and are so young, you will get an incredible adrenaline rush, says Southgate.

– But I don’t feel a greater need to spend time on that with Jude. He is aware of the investigation and is an intelligent guy.

The ban captain confirms that left-back Luke Shaw is available for action following his injury.

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full screen Gareth Southgate and Jude Bellingham following the victory in the round of 16. Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images