Southgate: “This team can write history”

55 years to eliminate Germany. For the last time England had won a preliminary match at the 1966 World Cup final, the duel for which there is still controversy.

Gareth Southgate, coach of the “Three Lions”, shows the secrets of this victory and points out that this team has the opportunity to make history.

We got a big score today. England had failed to defeat Germany in a game of elimination since the finals played here in 1966. These guys keep writing history and they still have the chance to go to a European Championship semifinal. Only once did England succeed, and we have the chance to do something really special”.

“Fan support? I've been in this stadium full of cheerleaders, but I haven't heard anywhere the noise level they made today. They've been ahead of us on every challenge, they were with us every time we cut, every time they ran. The energy in the stadium was incredible. It is good to know that millions of people enjoy such a difficult year. It's something special to give people this satisfaction”.

“Tactica? There have always been questions about us against big teams, especially the World Cup. We knew Germany, with its experience, would try to control the speed of the game, the possession of the ball. We knew Croos would organize the game and we had to be patient.

What I liked the most, always, was the passion and heart that we put in the field, but today we've been playing with brains”. We made the dam at the right time. We wanted to play one against one, aggressive on our prey. Protectors of the arm did well. The attacker chose the right time to move forward and stay. Then we found balance in the possession of the ball, sometimes even in our semifield. Our defenders are outstanding. We also fought back when needed in a few moments and very quickly. This was a real step forward for us.

“Continue? When we walked into the dressing room, we were talking about Saturday's game. Today we have performed a remarkable performance, but emotionally and physically at a cost. We need to recover physically and mentally so that we can be ready for the next fight”.