KALININGRAD: England coach Gareth Southgate took defeat to Belgium on the chin on Thursday as he looked ahead to the country’s “biggest game for a decade” in the World Cup last 16.
England and Belgium went into their final Group G match having already sewn up qualification to the knockout rounds. Belgium’s 1-0 win means they top the group and will face Japan on Monday, with runners-up England securing a last-16 date with Colombia 24 hours later. “We want to win football matches so not happy to have been beaten, but what it means for the next rounds we don’t know. “
I felt this was a game we wanted to win but the knockout game is our biggest for a decade,” Southgate told British broadcaster ITV. “Tonight was a good test for us, but we had half an eye on the knockout stages.” Southgate rested a cluster of players who had been involved in wins against Tunisia and Panama in England’s opening two games in Russia, including star striker Harry Kane. Reflecting on the defeat Southgate added: “It was a pretty even game. I thought they had better control and possession than us in the first half. We had a couple of good chances in the second half.”
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said he was delighted with his reserve line-up’s win over England that sealed top spot in World Cup Group G and set up a last-16 match against Japan. Martinez made nine changes from the team that beat Tunisia 5-2 and Adnan Januzaj scored the only goal with a superb strike in the 51st minute against an England team that was also much changed and without Harry Kane. The debate before the match was about how much either side really wanted to win because finishing second arguably leads to an easier route through the knockout stage.
“The victory is a consequence of a very good performance. You cannot plan the ideal scenario, you’ve seen big nations already eliminated,” Martinez said. “We need to look at ourselves. We are a stronger group than we were before the game.” Martinez said he was “delighted in the manner we won it”. “Many debutants were desperate to be involved and that pleases me,” he added. “We have a stronger team than we did 90 minutes ago.” Belgium will face Japan in Rostov-on-Don on Monday, while England will play Colombia in Moscow on Tuesday.
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