Gareth Southgate has supported many members of his England team to use the World Cup as a platform to “announce themselves” on a global stage. The manager of England also said that the fact some of his players usually feature for some of the Premier League’s best sides shows they are capable of competing with the best teams from around the world.
Southgate is taking an inexperienced team to Russia for the World Cup next month. He says the opportunity is there for one of his players to emulate Michael Owen’s exploits in 1998. The then-18-year-old scored a famous second-round goal against Argentina – in just his ninth cap – and went on to win the Ballon d’Or just three years later.