GARETH SOUTHGATE revved up his England players for tomorrow’s friendly by stressing: “Aussies don’t like us.”
Ahead of the Wembley sell-out the Three Lions boss reminded his team about our fierce rivalry with Australia — and why it is so important to beat them.
Southgate said: “We’ve talked to the players about the England-Australia sporting rivalry and we know what that means.
“There’s plenty of rivalry going on. I keep having to say to our players before these games, ‘Look lads, this is another country that doesn’t particularly like us, so get prepared for that, they want to make hay and beat us’.
“They’ll be highly motivated. If Australia have any sniff that we are not taking it seriously, we will be in trouble.”
Australia’s cricketers retained The Ashes in the summer but are struggling in the World Cup and the Wallabies are out of rugby union’s flagship event.
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England won 2-1 the last time the two nations’ men’s football teams met at Sunderland in 2016.
But the Socceroos humiliated Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side 3-1 at Upton Park in 2003, when Southgate was a Middlesbrough player.
He added: “I played with a lot of Aussies.
“When they beat us at Upton Park, they were pretty quick to come back to Boro — Mark Schwarzer had a blow-up kangaroo under his arm and he was making hay with it all.”
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Australia boss Graham Arnold was Frank Farina’s No 2 for that shock win at West Ham’s old ground.
Southgate added: “I know Graham well. He’s a brilliant guy. I’ve read his stories about Upton Park and how it motivated them.
“His teams work incredibly hard. They’re athletic, they’ve had really good performances, so it’ll be a really good test. We’ve got to be ready.”
Southgate will have one eye on Tuesday’s Euro 2024 qualifier at home to Italy.
He added: “We’ve got to keep winning, improving as much as we can. Every opportunity to play at Wembley is a wonderful experience for the players.
“They’ve only had one Wembley match so far this calendar year.
“For some it will be their first chance to play for England at Wembley, an unbelievable, special moment for any player.”
On the news England will co-host Euro 2028 alongside Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic, Southgate said: “It’s brilliant for all the countries that are hosting. For local business, for teams — because there is home advantage, no doubt.
“And it is great for fans to see their teams at home in a major tournament.”
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Black armbands will be worn and a period of silence observed tomorrow in tribute to the innocent victims of the conflict in Israel and Palestine.
ENGLAND (likely): Johnstone, Alexander-Arnold, Dunk, Maguire, Colwill, Phillips, Henderson, Grealish, Maddison, Bowen, Watkins.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
