When asked about reaching 100 games as England manager before the quarter-final against Switzerland last Saturday, Gareth Southgate played down the milestone. “It isn’t about me, it’s about the team,” he told the Telegraph. “I think it’s something I will reflect on with huge pride in time, but I don’t see that being in the next 10 days.”
He has, however, let his feet do the talking since then. During a pitch inspection at the Westphalia stadium in Dortmund ahead of the semi-final between England and the Netherlands on Wednesday, he wore a pair of Nike trainers with “100” embroidered on the back and the words “anything is possible” written around the heel.
