GARETH SOUTHGATE will order his England lions to go for France’s throats in the World Cup quarter-final.
He believes his attacking team have the ability to finally beat a top nation in the knockout stage of a major tournament on foreign soil in Saturday’s tie.
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The Three Lions are the top scorers in Qatar with 12 and he will urge his stars to hunt for goals like did in victories over Iran, Wales and Senegal.
Boss Southgate said: “We’ve made quite a bit of history over the last four-and-a-half years. Not all of it good! But that’s the great challenge.
“What we talked about before Senegal was keeping up the relentless pressure, not sitting back if we are ahead, making sure we keep the intensity of our game.
“So we’ve got to do that now against the world champions.
“When you look back through our previous tournaments, you see the teams that have knocked England out.
“So that’s the next test for this team.”
Yet Southgate believes England’s record in previous tournaments has prepared them for the France showdown.
The Three Lions reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, then made the final of Euro 2020, beating Germany on the way, before losing to Italy on penalties.
Southgate, 52, added: “There is a lot of experience of these moments and the players know they’ve had to win games in different ways, they’ve had to come from behind in big matches.”
England have met France twice before at the World Cup, winning both.
In 1966, Sir Alf Ramsey’s heroes triumphed 2-0 at Wembley in the group stage, courtesy of a Roger Hunt double, on route to lifting the Jules Rimet trophy.
But it is the 3-1 victory in Bilbao in 1982 which is Southgate’s most vivid childhood World Cup memory.
Southgate said: “1982 was the first World Cup I can remember watching England.
“That tournament also had the Brazilian team of Zico, Eder, Falcao and Socrates, so that was part of falling in love with the game.
“I also remember the sticker albums and the songs are in my head.”
Bryan Robson scored twice in that famous 3-1 opening game win — the first after 27 SECONDS.
Southgate said: “Bryan was my hero and I remember both his goals in ’82.
“I don’t know how manager Ron Greenwood was perceived at the time but England went out of that tournament without losing a game.”
