England boss Gareth Southgate and skipper Jordan Henderson insist the Three Lions can be the best team on the planet
Despite their dismal 2014 World Cup and a Euro 2016 humbling by Iceland, England are aiming higher than ever
GARETH SOUTHGATE has set his England players a target of being the world No1.
Despite disastrous showings at Euro 2016, where they were beaten by minnows Iceland, and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when they finished bottom of their group, England’s head coach is setting his sights high.
The Three Lions are currently ranked 13th in Fifa’s latest table, lagging behind Switzerland, Poland and Colombia.
SunSport revealed yesterday how Southgate has tapped into the dominant New Zealand All Blacks in an attempt to import their no-nonsense, “no d***heads” winning mentality.
Jordan Henderson, back in the fold after returning from a long-term injury lay-off, said: “We have spoken as a squad and the target is to be the No 1 team in the world, however long it takes.
“It is down to us; how far we want to go and how far we want to push ourselves. Hopefully, we can do that sooner rather than later.
“I know it is going to take time but I feel as though we have a great set of lads, a great set of players, a lot of talent. A lot of hard work goes into it.
“At the same time, we have not performed in the last few tournaments I have been to, definitely — and a lot more before that.
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“The mentality has to change and we need to go and be better than we have.
“We know the Euros was not good enough and the World Cup was disappointing. It is a big challenge but one we are ready for.”
The countdown to next summer’s World Cup in Russia is under way and Henderson is already thinking about competing with the best again.
He added: “As a team, we want to get to the World Cup first and then when we get there, we want to do well.
“So it is a big couple of games for us but we will be prepared and ready come next summer for the World Cup.
“Since Gareth came in, there have been improvements. Against Germany in the 1-0 loss, we performed well but didn’t get the result we wanted.
“Against Scotland, we showed great character to come back from being 2-1 down to get the late goal.
“When we lost 3-2 to France, it was disappointing and we’ve spoken about it.
“It’s up to us as players to change it on the pitch when we, hopefully, get to the tournament.”
Henderson is in great form for Liverpool and played a key role in Sunday’s 4-0 thumping of Arsenal.
The 27-year-old midfielder is finally over the foot problem that forced him out of the final three months of last season.
He added: “I had to do a lot of work over the summer. I had a good pre-season and hope I can continue that for England over the next couple of games.
“A majority of the time I was at Melwood recovering and then I got to go away for a week in Portugal, but I still trained while I was there.
“The last few months have been difficult. The injuries are the most difficult part of being a footballer, sitting watching when you can’t play and can’t affect things.”
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