Our group has been the toughest to come through- Gareth Southgate

Published at :November 19, 2018 at 1:25 PM

Modified at :November 19, 2018 at 1:25 PM

The English tactician praised his side's resolve after they came from behind to beat Croatia.

After guiding England for the UEFA Nations League Finals 2018-19, gaffer Gareth Southgate admitted that his young English side has surpassed his own expectations. They avenged their semi-final exit heartbreak after winning 2-1 against Croatia.

Southgate was proud with the squad's development in the calendar year and lauded the players for keeping their nerves in check while defeating Croatia. Andrej Kramaric's deflected goal at the cusp of an hour mark put England sliding down to League B. Manchester United's Jesse Lingard and Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane rose up to the occasion to save the day for the team.

“I don’t think I could have envisaged all this,” Southgate said. “I’m hugely proud of all the players and staff. We’ve grown together. We’ve improved with every step. Today was another big occasion. Plenty of pressure but they coped with it really well. We played so well in the first half and had good chances. Then we had to show another side, the resilience to stay in it."

He added while speaking to the Guardian, "We had a five to 10-minute period after Croatia scored with a couple of counterattacks. Then we may be a new England but we score from a long throw and a wide free-kick. Nothing changes but what pleases me is the connection with the fans. I’ve not heard Wembley like that for years. We want to continue on these days and nights and build on it. That energy helped us get over the line.”

Gareth Southgate insists that they qualified from the toughest group in the whole league. “You could look at the group with France, Germany and Holland, but I think ours on form has been the toughest to come through,” Southgate said.

“That’s a significant step for us. We were very close against Spain here as well. The quality of the performances and the depth of the squad that has emerged – we had real options on the bench to change the game, and that’s a real shift over the last couple of months," he added.

The draws for the UEFA Nations League finals will take place in Dublin in December, with Portugal set to host these four matches in June 2019. Southgate has urged his team to not to let their success get to their work-rate on the field.

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“We’re not perfect but we are improving,” he said. “We have a real desire and hunger to keep improving. Slowly we are starting to beat those top teams. We’ve had a tough run but we’ve learned so much from it. You have to be near on perfect against the best teams. You are not allowed to be sloppy in any way. That has allowed us to progress.”

England lost a single game in their four matches in the group. They lost their very first game of the group to Spain and the rest is history. Rashford and Sterling scored a total of four goals in the round.

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