Luke Shaw has said it will be “naive” if England become obsessed by the danger posed by Kylian Mbappe.
Even in the immediate aftermath of the thumping victory over Senegal, thoughts turned to how Gareth Southgate’s side can stop the tournament’s outstanding player, a striker who leads the race for the Golden Boot with five goals, including two sensational efforts against Poland in the last 16.
Shaw and his England team-mates watched the Mbappe late show live before taking the field against Senegal, and the Manchester United defender was suitably impressed. He said: “We managed to watch the end of the (France) game on the coach and after his (Mbappe’s) performance, there is going to be even more chat about him, and we know he is a world-class player.
“But I think it would be very naive of us to focus purely on him. They (France) are world champions for a reason, because they have brilliant players all over the whole pitch, so we are not going to fully focus on him.”
Shaw believes England have to take confidence from the way they disposed of Senegal, saying: “It needs to give us confidence and the belief, because it’s obviously not going to be easy.
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“It’ll be very tough and mentally we have to be ready and focused because we have to be at 100 per cent to win this game and we know that. We’re obviously doing the right things at the moment but I think we need to step up another level.”
Meanwhile, Shaw's team-mate Bukayo Saka has admitted he would wake up as a child dreaming of chasing World Cup glory. As he looked forward to Saturday’s epic quarter-final showdown with France, the Arsenal man said: “I always allow myself to dream. Having watched the tournament growing up, I have a lot of memories. I remember South Africa 2010 and the famous song.
“It’s an amazing song. Things like that stick with you forever and as a kid you just wake up after a dream and think, 'I want to do this, I want to score a goal in a World Cup'. I always allowed myself to dream.”
Saka, 21, also said that his faith in God was helping him cope with the unique pressures of a World Cup. He explained: “I read my bible every night. For me, it is really important to have the presence of God all the time.
“It gives me more confidence to know that God’s plan is perfect, so I can go on the pitch and know that God has my back. The main thing for me is keeping my faith, having faith in God, so I don’t need to be worried or nervous about any outcomes.
“Because this is my first World Cup, I could start worrying about different things and different outcomes, but I just choose to put my faith in God.”
