MX23RW : Monday, October 8 12:10:37

Southgate looking to make further progress with England after signing new deal

The 48-year-old was appointed in 2016 and took the national team to the last four of the World Cup.

England boss Gareth Southgate insisted he will not rest on past glories after signing a new deal – as Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn backed the Three Lions to win the World Cup.

Southgate will stay as national team chief through to the World Cup in Qatar after signing a new contract on Thursday.

Assistant Steve Holland has also agreed a new deal with the Football Association until 2022.

Southgate, 48, guided England to the World Cup semi-finals in the summer and knows his work is not over.

England manager Gareth Southgate will hope for more reasons to celebrate in the next four years
England manager Gareth Southgate will hope for more reasons to celebrate in the next four years (Owen Humphreys/PA)

He said: “Of course anything can happen in football, we have to keep getting results. We’re not naive enough to sit here and say we can do what we like for the next four years.

“We are hugely ambitious. In the summer we had real progress but we know there is still a lot of improvements to make.

“The players have really bought in to everything we’re trying to do and recognise there is still a little bit to go to be among the world’s best.”

Gareth Southgate has worked closely with FA chief executive Martin Glenn
Gareth Southgate has worked closely with FA chief executive Martin Glenn (Adam Davy/PA)

FA chief Glenn added: “You can’t guarantee you’re going to win a tournament but I believe we will win a World Cup at some point in the not too distant future.

“For sure we are going to turn up to major tournaments – the Euros in 2020 or the World Cup in 2022 – with more consistent challenges and the expectation should be we get to the latter stages.

“We have great ambition. We will win a World Cup, we are going to win a Euros, but you can’t ever say when because it’s so competitive.

“We want to see progress, we can feel progress, the public can sense it and the media can see it.”

England Squad Announcement – St George’s Park
England manager Gareth Southgate at St George’s Park on Thursday (Mike Egerton/PA)

Former England Under-21 boss Southgate signed an initial four-year contract in 2016 after replacing Sam Allardyce, who lasted just 67 days in the job.

Southgate has been rewarded after England reached the last four in Russia in July.

The team lost 2-1 to Croatia after extra-time before being beaten 2-0 by Belgium in the third-place play-off.

It was the joint-best World Cup performance by an England team on foreign soil.

Southgate said: “Last month was so hectic, we were still debriefing the World Cup internally but I was very clear I wanted to be here.

“There aren’t many projects in life you want to be a part of that both excite you and mean much more than just the work you do. It can have an impact on so many things and we saw that in the summer.

“We talked to the players about it but it was hard for them to appreciate it until they had some progress and a degree of success. Then they could see what it means to people. It’s a role I take with huge responsibility.

“It’s a great place to come to work, you smell the grass and you get to work in a game you love and make a difference. It’s everything you want in a job.”

England reached the World Cup semi-finals this summer
England reached the last four in this summer’s World Cup (Aaron Chown/PA)

England face Croatia behind closed doors in Rijeka on October 12 in the Nations League.

The World Cup finalists will complete a stadium ban after a swastika symbol was marked on their pitch in 2015.

Southgate’s side then travel to Seville to play Spain, who won 2-1 at Wembley in England’s first Nations League match last month.

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