England’s Dele Alli ‘unlikely’ to face Panama

Southgate thinks Alli is recovering well but concedes it is not always easy for players to ask to come off during such important matches as those at a World Cup.

He even admitted the result could be as bad as the Belgium game but snapped at one reporter who accused of him of being excessively negative. He missed the penalty that saw England eliminated on home soil in the semifinals of the 1996 European Championship.

Poor finishing would have been partly to blame if Gareth Southgate’s men had failed to win in Volgograd, while peculiar officiating would have also played a major role.

The Three Lions boss, who suffered a dislocated shoulder while out running earlier this week, played down the tactical significance of the information which was revealed. “And I think it’s key to teams doing well at tournaments”.

Now working for the FA, he watched the Three Lions train before they travelled to Russian Federation for the World Cup.

Southgate turned the page on England’s “golden generation” in a bid to revitalize the squad.

A two-time Premier League Golden Boot victor, Kane banished any remaining doubts over his ability to perform on the biggest stage for his country with the first double by an English player at the World Cup since Gary Lineker in 1990.

Whatever happens, Panama is the proverbial just-happy-to-be-here team.

The heat could be as much as an issue as refereeing as England look to reach the last 16 in sweltering Nizhny Novgorod.

The teams enter Saturday’s match in Yekaterinburg coming off surprising 2-1 wins – Japan over Colombia and Senegal over Poland. I am expecting determined performances from both sides since it is the business end of the group stage. In contrast, England’s Premier League is viewed as one of the world’s most premier divisions. Nigeria is the other. In terms of nations at the World Cup, only nine have greater populations.

“We’ve seen a few clips”, the Manchester City defender said.

He also made news by arguing forcefully that global soccer needs more black coaches. Even their manager Hernan Dario Gomez is managing at his third World Cup. “That’s fairly typical for most of the teams”.

“It will be like a final”, he said.

“More than anything I think for the guys who aren’t in the team tomorrow [Sunday] or who haven’t been in the team for either game”, said Southgate.