DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – England’s quarter-final clash with Switzerland at the European Championship on Saturday marks the 100th game in charge for Gareth Southgate, but the manager said that impressive achievement is the last thing on his mind.
“I’m very proud but it is the least important stat of the week,” he said on Friday. “The only thing that matters is it is a quarter-final and my complete focus is to get my country into another semi-final.
“I’m sure in years to come I will look back and reflect with great pride. But at the moment it is the last thing on my mind.”
Southgate’s 100th match at the helm could possibly be his last with plenty of speculation around his future amidst the team’s lacklustre showing in Germany.
“It is a fact of life,” he said on the talk about his position. “If you are in one of the most high profile jobs in world football then there will always be speculation, assessment of what’s going on, so I am not worried,” he said.
“When I was a younger manager trying to forge a career you are worried about if the first job doesn’t go well there won’t be another job. So you are worrying about failing and getting the sack.
“Now I am older, I’m 53, I’m not worried about losing or what will go wrong. We have the chance to get into a semi-final. It is a positive thing to focus on. It has been my mindset for quite a while now.”
Southgate was lambasted after the team’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia in the group stage, with fans hurling beer cups and shouting insults in his direction after the final whistle.
“I’m sure that will have motivated (Southgate) that bit more,” defender John Stones said. “Everyone who has spent time with him and know him as a person, knows how hard he and his backroom staff work. So, definitely, we want to win for them, ourselves and our families and everyone in the nation.”
Southgate has been credited with creating a positive culture since he took the reins of a team in disarray in 2016.
England are the only European side to reach the quarter-finals of the last four major tournaments. They lost to Italy in a shootout in the 2020 European Championship final at Wembley, their best ever run in the tournament.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing in Weimar, Germany; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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