Germany the benchmark for countries who consistently win tournaments, exclaims Gareth Southgate
England manager Gareth Southgate has claimed that nations like Germany and Brazil are the examples for his team to follow in their quest for winning an international trophy and then consistently win trophies. Southgate’s side will clash against Germany in the Nations League on Tuesday.
Gareth Southgate was hired as England manager in November 2017 after Sam Allardyce resigned due to the 2016 English football scandal. Since then, the former Middlesbrough manager has helped integrate unity and cohesiveness into a side that has always suffered from infighting and lack of team chemistry on the pitch. The 51-year-old has led the Three Lions to lofty new heights as he led the side to a semi-final at the 2018 World Cup and became the first England boss to do so since to Sir Bobby Robson in 1990.
Southgate was also the catalyst for the nation’s first third-place finish in a major international tournament since UEFA Euro 1968 via the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2019 and then orchestrated a brilliant Euro 2020 campaign where he led his side to their first Euro final although Italy beat the Three Lions. They clash against Germany on Tuesday in the Nations League for the first time since the knockout stages of Euro 2020 and Southgate praised the mentality of the Germans to be consistently in the mix for silverware.
“For me, Germany and Brazil are still the benchmark in terms of countries who have regularly and consistently won tournaments. You have to respect what they have been and what they are as a country, in footballing terms. That mentality is what we're trying to create. Games like tomorrow are brilliant for us. It is exactly the kind of test we need. This will be a brilliant test of where we are at at this particular moment in time,” Southgate told Sky Sports.