Gareth Southgate praised his players for their ‘immense’ performance during England’s 2-0 win over Germany in the Euro 2020 round of 16.
Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane scored for the Three Lions as they secured their first victory over Die Mannschaft at 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 game Southgate revealed he was delighted with the historic victory.
“I thought it was a brilliant afternoon. We’ve talked about bringing enjoyment to the nation and this afternoon was what that’s all about. The players were absolutely immense, right the way through the team, and the fans were as well. There were only 40,000 but it was as good an atmosphere as I can remember at Wembley,” he told the media after the game, as quoted by England Football.
The win set up a quarter-final meeting in Rome next Saturday against either Sweden or Ukraine. Southgate was keen to stress that his focus was firmly on that game, despite the emotional triumph over Germany.
“I was the party pooper in the dressing room – I just said that it means nothing if we don’t capitalise on Saturday now. We’ve given people another day to remember, and now we’ve got to do it in Rome.”
The England manager went on to praise the contributions of both goalscorers, adding; “I was pleased for both of them because they both have to prove people wrong all the time.
“Raheem has been immense 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 else you’re doing in the game as a forward, you need those goals so I was pleased to see the second one go in, I have to say.”