News | UK England boss Gareth Southgate is keeping his feet on ground — complete with an inspirational motto on his trainers — ahead of the team’s semi-final against the Netherlands. The coach wore the footwear with the message “anything is possible” as he joined Harry Kane on the pitch in Dortmund to get an early look at the venue. The words are a nod to Southgate’s book where he talked about his path from shy schoolboy footballer to success on the pitch, and how he overcame his own challenges including his penalty miss in the semi-final of the 1996 Euros.
His trainers also had 100 written on them — a reference to the game against the Swiss in the quarter-final which was his 100th game as England manager, eight years after stepping into the role temporarily when Sam Allardyce was forced to resign. Thousands of England fans have been scrambling for flights and accommodation in the last few days, with about 40,000 expected to descend on Dortmund to join a similar number already in Germany. The exodus has driven up the price of hotel rooms and tickets for the match into the thousands of pounds.
ITV bosses are hoping for a bumper audience for Wednesday’s game kicking off at 8pm after almost 17 million tuned in to the BBC on Saturday to see England come through on penalties against the Swiss. Southgate says his players are ready to make history after topping their group in unconvincing fashion before beating Switzerland to get to their third semi-final in four maj.
