England are now seen as a threat, says Southgate

London (AFP) – England’s football team have progressed to being regarded as a threat at major football championships which was not the case prior to the 2018 World Cup their manager Gareth Southgate told the BBC.

The 49-year-old Englishman said the trajectory the team has been on makes them a hot contender to be crowned European champions next year.

Southgate has been a roaring success since he took over after Sam Allardyce resigned after just one match in charge in 2016.

The former central defender — who was capped 57 times by England — has trusted in young talent and the tactic has payed off.

England made a surprise run to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, reaching the last four of the inaugural Nations League and easily topping their Euro 2020 qualifying group.       

“I think we’ve gained some respect, and I think people would view us as a threat which certainly wasn’t the case ahead of Russia,” said Southgate ahead of Saturday’s Euro 2020 draw with his side at home for three group matches.

“We also know we have got to improve to another level.

“It’s hard to assess exactly where we are after this qualifying campaign.

“Nobody else got to the World Cup semi-finals and the latter stages of the Nations League.

“So we are in that mix of teams, but there are lot of good teams and the difference on one day between any of the top 10 teams is so marginal in football.”

– ‘Very difficult topic’ –

Southgate, who became a candidate for the England job after impressing as their Under-21 coach, said it is hard to compare his squad with the one he was part of and which reached the Euro 96 semi-finals.

The Euro ’96 side lost on penalties to old foes and eventual champions Germany at Wembley — Southgate’s missed penalty proving decisive.

However, he showed an admirable ability of laughing at himself when he along with Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle — who missed penalties against the then West Germany in the 1990 World Cup semi-finals — took part in a pizza advertisement.     

“In terms of the teams, they are very different,” he said.

“We had seven club captains and quite a few players in their late twenties and some in their early thirties, so this team is in a different moment in their journey, both individually and collectively.”