World Cup Quarterfinals
What happens to Southgate? Rice and Maguire praise head coach
Has not yet decided whether to continue as England manager: Gareth Southgate. photo
© Pan Yulong/XinHua/dpa
Semi-finals, finals, quarter-finals: England’s tournament record with Gareth Southgate is decent – and so were their performances in Qatar. The ex-professional wants to decide about his future first.
England football pundits puzzled over national coach Gareth Southgate’s thoughts. Will the 52-year-old stay and fulfill his contract, which runs until 2024, even after Qatar’s bitter World Cup quarter-final defeat by France? Or is Southgate looking for a new challenge after six years at the Three Lions?
If the professionals, who were badly disappointed by the knockout, have their way, the matter is clear: Southgate should continue and lead England’s strong generation to the EM 2024 in Germany.
“I hope he stays. He’s been brilliant for us. There’s a lot of criticism that isn’t justified. He’s taken us so far, further than people could have expected,” said midfielder Declan Rice after the close 2-1 draw the defending champions, where a missed penalty by captain Harry Kane was decisive. Defender Harry Maguire made similar comments to Rice. “We players love Gareth, he’s been great to each of us,” explained Maguire.
Southgate doesn’t seem to want to make a quick decision. “I need time to make the right decisions. It’s very emotional. You have so many different feelings at a World Cup like this. It takes so much energy, a lot of energy,” he said at the press conference on Sunday night. On Sunday, the Three Lions left their team headquarters in Al-Wakra, south of Doha.