Tunisia vs. England (Today, 7pm, BBC One)
It’s 12 years since England last won their opening World Cup group game - a 1-0 defeat of Paraguay - but manager Gareth Southgate has struck an upbeat note ahead of tonight’s clash against Tunisia.
“They’re ready,” Southgate told the England team’s YouTube channel. “If they played today, they’d be ready.”
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Ready for what? Three points, hopefully, given that victory against the Tunisians is essential if the Three Lions want to finish top of the group.
With Belgium playing Paraguay in the other group game today (4pm, live on BBC One), a stylish win for England would help build up a head of steam before the crucial clash with the Red Devils on 28 June.
All for one and one for all
Southgate has already told the squad his starting line-up for the match at the Volgograd Arena, saying: “I think it’s helpful that everything’s settled. They know their jobs. The guys who aren’t in the team are prepared and have trained well.
“They become a key part of what we do now. They have to support the players who are starting, but also be ready because anything can happen before the game, anything can happen during the game.”
Although Southgate didn’t share that line-up with the wider public, the media are in agreement that Harry Maguire will start ahead of Gary Cahill in defence; Ashley Young has got the nod over Danny Rose at left wing-back; and Jordan Henderson is preferred to Eric Dier in the midfield.
Southgate has no doubts that the players who didn’t make the cut will offer unstinting support to the starting XI. “We only progress as a collective,” he said. “That’s been the mentality from the day we started and will go right through the tournament.”
Drawing on experience
The last time the Three Lions went to a World Cup with a former England player as manager was 1998, when Southgate was part of the squad that reached the second round under Glenn Hoddle.
Southgate is now using that experience to prepare a new generation for the unique challenge of a World Cup.
“Whenever you represent England, or any other country, there’s expectation,” he said, when asked about how the squad was handling the pressure. “There’s hope, you carry the dreams of a nation, and it’s impossible to say to any player you can go out and play without any feeling of pressure or any feeling or fear.
“But what you have to do is make sure that doesn’t control you and that you go for it in your performances and you don’t feel, ‘oh, I was inhibited in the way I played’, or worry about making mistakes, because mistakes will happen for certain.”
Kane can’t wait
One of the players making his World Cup debut is captain Harry Kane, who during the last World Cup was just beginning to make his way at Tottenham.
“If you go back four years, I was watching the World Cup while on holiday,” remarked Kane. “I’d played the last six or seven games of the Premier League season under Tim Sherwood. Mauricio Pochettino came in that summer and got me fit, in better shape and more powerful, and I kicked on from there.
“The last few years I’ve improved and now I’m here, and I can’t wait to get out there and show the world what I’ve got.”
Asked if he and the survivors from the 2016 Euros are still scarred by the experience of losing to Iceland, Kane replied: “This is a new squad with new ideas and a new way of playing. We want to attack this tournament, create chances and score goals.”
Bold and brave
Kane’s excitement is mirrored by his manager, who believes England are on the brink of finally fulfilling their potential after years of under-achievement.
“It’s going to be an exciting time watching these boys play,” Southgate said. “They have a hunger to press and win the ball back, and want to play brave football. They want to be a bold and attacking team. We have lads that are so exciting and I want them to go into this tournament, really go for it, be as good as they may be.”
Tunisia vs. England predicted starting XIs
How the teams are expected to line up at the Volgograd Arena tonight:
- Tunisia (4-2-3-1): Mathlouthi; Bronn, Youssef, Meriah, Maaloul; Skhiri, Sassi; Khaoui, Badri, Khazri; Youssef
- England (3-3-2-2): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Henderson, Lingard, Alli, Young; Sterling, Kane
Group G fixtures and live TV channels (all times UK)
- 18 June: Belgium vs. Panama (4pm, BBC); Tunisia vs. England (7pm, BBC)
- 23 June: Belgium vs. Tunisia (1pm, BBC)
- 24 June: England vs. Panama (1pm, BBC)
- 28 June: England vs. Belgium (7pm, ITV); Panama vs. Tunisia (7pm, ITV4)
