Italy will host England tonight at Diego Maradona Stadium to play the Euro Qualifier. It will be England’s first international match after their exit from the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup. Although Italy missed the Qatar World Cup, they have a strong record against England. England have never beaten the Azzurri in Italy since 1961. Therefore, they are very desperate to win tonight’s match to break the curse.
Press Conference
England’s boss Gareth Southgate had a press conference ahead of tonight’s clash. He said, “In a nutshell, it is the sort of challenge that we’ve got to start to take on and the type of game we’ve got to start winning. We have over a period, but we’ve got to now consistently try to do that.”
The manager wants to win against Italy to end the 62 years winless run. “We haven’t won here since 1961, so it’s another bit of history that we’re trying to break down, and that’s a great challenge for this team because they’ve knocked down so many of those barriers in the past. I know Italy didn’t qualify for the World Cup, but they still have some outstanding players, and they’re going to have high motivation as well. It’s going to be a fabulous game.”
Gareth Southgate believes his players have enough quality to beat any team. “We don’t need any more evidence of belief; they [England players] have been involved in some of the biggest matches in world football and they know the level that’s required, they know they have the ability to compete at that level,” the manager added.
Gareth Southgate also didn’t forget to talk about Harry Kane, who is just one goal away from becoming the top scorer for England. The manager said, “I think we’ve seen that, mentally, with his performances and his goalscoring with his club, he’s put it behind him, but I know he’s going to have added motivation tomorrow night to come back and show everybody what he’s about again in an England shirt. For us that’s a good position.”
“But because of the goalscoring record alone, that puts him in the upper echelons of that group. He provides so much more for the team than that; his quality of passing, his vision, his touch. He’s an outstanding player and we’re very, very fortunate to have him,” the manager added.
