Gareth Southgate orders the England Lions to go for France’s throat in World Cup quarter-final showdown

GARETH SOUTHGATE will command his England lions to go for France’s throat in the World Cup quarterfinals.

He believes his attacking team can finally beat a top nation in the knockout stages of a major tournament on foreign soil on Saturday.

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The Three Lions are in Qatar with 12 top scorers and he will urge his stars to go for goals as he did in victories against Iran, Wales and Senegal.

Boss Southgate said: “We’ve made quite a bit of history in the last four and a half years. Not all good! But that’s the big challenge.

“We spoke ahead of Senegal about keeping the relentless pressure on, not leaning back when we’re ahead and making sure we maintain the intensity of our game.

“We have to do that now against the world champion.

“If you look back at our previous tournaments, you see the teams that have beaten England.

“So that’s the next test for this team.”

Still, Southgate believes England’s record in previous tournaments prepared them for the showdown in France.

The Three Lions reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, then reached the final of Euro 2020, beating Germany in the process before losing to Italy on penalties.

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Southgate, 52, added: “There’s a lot of experience of those moments and players know they’ve had to win games in different ways, they’ve had to come from behind in big games.”

England have met France twice at the World Cup and won both.

In 1966, Sir Alf Ramsey’s heroes triumphed 2-0 at Wembley in the group stage, thanks to a double win by Roger Hunt, en route to lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy.

But it’s the 3-1 win at Bilbao in 1982 that is Southgate’s most vivid childhood World Cup memory.

Southgate said: “1982 was the first World Cup I can remember seeing England.

“That tournament also featured the Brazilian team with Zico, Eder, Falcao and Socrates, so that was part of falling in love with the game.

“I also remember the sticker albums and the songs are in my head.”
Bryan Robson scored twice in that famous 3-1 win in the opening game – the first after 27 SECONDS.

Southgate said: “Bryan was my hero and I remember his two goals in 1982.

“I don’t know how manager Ron Greenwood was perceived at the time, but England went out of that tournament without losing a game.”

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