We know we have to do better

Gareth Southgate13 April 2012

Well, we made it and that's all that counts but we certainly raised a few people's blood pressure levels before the final whistle mercifully sounded on Saturday.

We were, of course, delighted and relieved in equal measure but when I wrote in this column last week that I expected the match against Greece to be tense, I didn't believe things were going to be that nervewracking.

When we got back to the dressing room there were no wild celebrations because the players knew they hadn't done themselves justice.

The way things went reminded me of the second Euro 2000 play-off match against Scotland at Wembley. Then we had a 2-0 lead and everyone expected us to pull away comfortably. On the night though, we were nervous and hardly strung two passes together.

Saturday was similar. The occasion affected some of our players, who looked drained, but around half that team hadn't been in that position before and the experience will stand them in good stead for the future.

There were no official celebrations afterwards. I believe Sven-Goran Eriksson and the rest of the coaching staff had a quiet dinner back at the hotel but the players were soon going their different ways.

There had been some talk of a dinner but it was decided that the best place to celebrate was at home with the families. The lap of honour in front of all those happy England fans was celebration enough for anyone.

I would have liked to have got on during the match but, like all the squad who didn't make the team on Saturday, we will have to stay patient and wait our chance.

There is a long way to go before the World Cup finals kick off and history says that not everybody who played against Greece will make the trip to Japan and South Korea.

Look at the last World Cup. Ian Wright and Paul Gascoigne played in the crucial qualifying match against Italy in Rome but neither went to France.

I must say I was particularly pleased for my former Crystal Palace team-mate Nigel Martyn. He has had his critics at international level but usually he's come into a makeshift team for a friendly or, as in the case of Euro 2000, been given five minutes notice to get the gloves on following an injury to David Seaman.

I must say a few words about Greece who played well and would feel aggrieved not to have won.

I thought both free-kicks which led to our goals, were debatable and I wouldn't have been happy if the referee had penalised me for either.

That's football though and there are plenty of other occasions when defenders foul strikers and get away with it.

For the moment, let's enjoy the result and the achievement in making the finals, especially after our poor start to the qualifying matches.

We've ridden our luck on occasions but these things have a habit of evening out - look at Ray Parlour's shot that came down off the crossbar, went over the goal line but was not given by the referee in the match against Finland in Helsinki.

We know though, that we will have to play better next summer if we want to make an impact. There were times on Saturday when we lost our shape completely.

One problem seemed to be that the pitch was very dry and our short passing game did not come off. The ball did not reach its destination, although the Greeks didn't seem to have too much trouble with their passing.

The result was that our midfield players dropped deeper and deeper and the Greeks, who played a 3-5-2 system, overran us in that area.

Mr Eriksson and David Beckham have rightly been lauded for their efforts.

I thought David was an inspirational figure at Old Trafford, while the coach has hardly put a foot wrong.

He remains essentially a quiet man who speaks only when he has something to say.

At half-time against Greece for example, when it wasn't going well, he talked for only a short time and what he had to say was very measured.

His first substitution on Saturday proved inspired and I was delighted for Teddy Sheringham. He has obviously put himself right back in the England frame with his superb goal.

Now we go on to friendly matches and there will be some of us who will hope to stake a claim in those.

Considering where we were a year ago it has been a magnificent feat for everyone involved in the squad and a huge relief that we will be going to Japan and South Korea next summer.

Let's all rejoice in that achievement for a brief moment before we get back down to work again.

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