HomeNewsGareth Southgate ‘Incredibly Proud’ As Resilient England Keep Brazil At Bay

Gareth Southgate ‘Incredibly Proud’ As Resilient England Keep Brazil At Bay

Published on:

Gareth Southgate’s young England side battled toe-to-toe to hold star-studded Brazil to a goalless draw at Wembley on Tuesday.

Southgate is proud of his young England side

Brazil dominated the game while Three Lions goalkeeper made some incredible saves to keep the scoreline 0-0.

Rashford

England looked brilliant as far as their defensive line-up is concerned but up front they could curate few efforts on goal – with Marcus Rashford, Eric Dier and Dominic Solanke all coming close to break the deadlock.

And the Three Lions boss was happy to see his young guns frustrate Brazil as the five-time World Cup winners found it difficult to make their way through a rock-solid Three Lions defence.

Ryan Bertrand battling with Coutinho and Jesus

Southgate said: “In terms of heart, resilience and spirit it was up there with anything I’ve been involved in.

“We couldn’t get hold of the ball and keep it. Tonight we just showed resilience, guts and some outstanding defending and I’m incredibly proud.

“We had the best defensive record in Europe in qualifying and we’ve played the best two teams in the world and not conceded.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek in action

“When you dig in you get half chances and we had them at the end and could have won the game. It’s a base to work from.

“Joe Gomez’s performance against top players – like all of the defending – was outstanding. It was a top performance.”

Joe Gomez

Gomez, who burst into the international scene under Southgate following the rise of  Harry Winks and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, said:”We put in a good shift and we’re happy with that. It’s a great honour, I’ll keep trying to improve and hopefully more of these days will come.”

Joe Hart

Goalkeeper Hart said: “The back line were phenomenal. Joe Gomez played against one of the best players in the world and was excellent. We have played two of the best teams in the world, we didn’t win, but we didn’t lose.”

Eric Dier

Brazil had a star-studded line-up with Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Paulinho and Philippe Coutinho all involved in the game but the Three Lions defence led by 20-year-old Gomez held out well under constant pressure from the South American side.

John Stones

Brazil had a golden opportunity later in the game to break the deadlock but Fernandinho’s effort clipped the post.

Team FootTheBall
Team FootTheBall brings you all the latest updates from the world of Football and is managed by our team of journalists

also read