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Gareth Southgate makes tournament strategy revelation ahead of England vs Colombia
GARETH SOUTHGATE has vowed to go boldly into Tuesday’s clash with Colombia despite being accused of derailing England’s flying star.
World Cup: Gareth Southgate reacts to England loss
Critics accused the England manager of throwing away the Three Lions’ momentum by fielding a weakened team in the 1-0 defeat to Belgium that followed two opening wins.
But Southgate stands by his plan and believes England are finally ready to end their knockout nightmares which stretch back 12 years since their last win in the latter stages of a major tournament.
“There is something about tournament strategy that’s important but you have to be bold enough to accept that might come with questions,” he said.
“But if we believe it’s the right thing then stand by it.
There is something about tournament strategy that’s important but you have to be bold enough to accept that might come with questions
“It’s exciting. We’ve got the chance to be the team that changes that record.
"It’s one of the reasons why we’ve done what we did against Belgium – to give ourselves the best possible opportunity of doing that.
“It’s going to be a brilliant game to be involved in. It looked like Colombia had 30,000 or 40,000 fans in the stadium for their last game. I went to two of their games in Brazil – they were incredible occasions.
“They have some top players, some top attacking players in particular. But we also have some really good players who are full of belief and looking forward to this challenge.”
England’s defeat to Belgium meant they finished runners-up in Group G. If they had held the Red Devils to a draw, as winners they would be facing Japan – ranked 61 in the world, six places below Panama – as opposed to one of the best 20 teams on the planet.
“Whoever we play we believe we’re capable of beating,” Southgate said. “Whoever we play are capable of, on a one-off game, beating us.
“But we had to make a decision we felt gave us the best opportunity preparing the whole squad for that game and that’s what we tried to do.
“Of course, if we don’t win, I understand people would say whatever about the Belgium game as well, but that was the right thing to do and you’ve got to take decisions you believe are the right ones.”