Gareth Southgate praised his players for their ‘huge’ performance during England’s 2-0 victory over Germany in the Euro 2020 round.
Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane scored for the Three Lions as they secured their first win over Die Mannschaft in a major tournament since 1966.
The win was made even sweeter by the fact that it was played in front of 40,000 fans at Wembley – the largest capacity for a spectator event since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking after the match, Southgate revealed that he was very pleased with the historic victory.
“I thought it was a brilliant afternoon. We talked about giving the nation joy and this afternoon it was all about. The players were absolutely huge, all the way through the team, and the fans were too. There were only 40,000 but it was as good an atmosphere as I can remember at Wembley, he told the media after the match, as quoted by England Football.
The match turned out to be Joachim Low’s last manager for Germany / Robin Jones / Getty Images
The win set up a quarter-final meeting in Rome next Saturday against either Sweden or Ukraine. Southgate was keen to emphasize that his focus was on that game, despite the emotional triumph over Germany.
“I was a party pooper in the locker room – I just said it does not matter if we do not capitalize on Saturday now. We have given people another day to remember, and now we have to do it in Rome.”
The England coach praised both goalkeepers’ contributions and added; “I was happy with both of them because they both have to prove that people are wrong all the time.
“Raheem has been huge for us over a three or four year period. He knows he has our trust and his performances have been electric.
“It was a really important moment for Harry, I think. It doesn’t matter what you do more in the game as a forward, you need these goals so I was happy to see the other go in, I have to say.”
