Croatia v England: Three Lions have shot at sporting immortality News

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Croatia v England: Three Lions have shot at sporting immortality

By By Phil McNulty on July 11, 2018

England's players and their manager have an opportunity to achieve sporting immortality on Wednesday as they aim to reach the 2018 Fifa World Cup final.

The Three Lions are just one game away from their first final since 1966, with Croatia standing between them and a showpiece against France, who beat Belgium on Tuesday.

The names of Sir Alf Ramsey and his players - still the only 11 Englishmen to play in a World Cup final - will be recalled forever and their stories told whenever the nation's landmark moments in sport are revisited.

This is the level of prize and prestige on offer in Moscow for a team given little hope of progressing past the quarter-finals before the tournament began.

Relive England's last World Cup semi-final

Klinsmann's message to England

It is England's most significant World Cup game since the semi-final loss to West Germany on penalties at Italia '90 - with the prospect of matching that famous occasion from 52 years ago if they win.

And it is even more remarkable when placed in the context of the shambles of Euro 2016, when England were deservedly humbled in the last 16 by underdogs Iceland.

When Gareth Southgate took charge of England amid the chaos and confusion of Roy Hodgson's resignation after the embarrassment in France and Sam Allardyce's one-game reign, the notion of him potentially putting his name alongside the great Ramsey would have been regarded as plucked from the realms of fantasy.

Ramsey, reserved but tactically brilliant, took the job after winning the title at Ipswich Town. Southgate's only venture into club management ended in the sack at Middlesbrough.

But he has rebuilt his reputation within the Football Association's framework with such success he now has the chance to make history.

And there are certain things about Southgate that the legendary Ramsey might just have admired, namely his fierce loyalty to his players - Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli are prime examples - and the loyalty he is given in return.

It has all come together brilliantly in a campaign that has gathered momentum as it moved around Russia.

Now England's manager and his players can earn the chance to make themselves immortals.

Southgate word perfect in Moscow

If Southgate was feeling the weight of history on his shoulders in Moscow on Tuesday, it was a burden he carried so lightly it was barely detectable.

His relaxed demeanour, quiet determination and sense of humour have won England friends on their travels in Russia - and for a man carrying the hopes of a nation and speaking on the night before the biggest moment of his career, he cut a remarkably calm figure.

Sitting alongside midfielder Jordan Henderson in a packed media centre, the attendance a reflection of this game's significance, Southgate was once again pitch perfect.

Plastic chickens at training. Waistcoat Wednesday. Football's Coming Home. And the World Cup semi-final.

The lighter subjects were handled with humour and the deadly serious matters treated with gravitas.

If Southgate's team have grown and matured in this momentous month in Russia, then so has their manager.

England's "identity" has not simply been a buzzword. It has become a byword, both in the style of play Southgate demands and the manner in which his players have conducted themselves.

Southgate would not be human if he was not feeling a modicum of tension about such an occasion - but he spoke with confidence and belief about what England have achieved and can achieve.

Whatever unfolds in Moscow on Wednesday, the manager's reputation inside and outside the global game has been enhanced.(BBC).

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 11, 2018