England

Gareth Southgate: 'England Under-20s have raised the bar'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 11 June 2017

England manager Gareth Southgate congratulates the Under-20 World Cup winners, claiming they have "raised the bar" for all age groups.

England manager Gareth Southgate has heaped praise on the Under-20s following their World Cup triumph in Korea.

Paul Simpson's side became the first English team since 1966 to be crowned world champions courtesy of a 1-0 win over Venezuela in today's final, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin getting the only goal of the game.

England's senior side watched the match following training for Tuesday's friendly with France, and Southgate sent a congratulatory message to the Young Lions afterwards in which he claimed that they had "raised the bar" for all age groups.

"It's been a brilliant experience to follow you from afar. All of the senior team were crammed around the laptop watching it as we finished training in France. I can only say brilliant, well done everybody," he said in the video message.

"It's a fantastic achievement, you have done everybody proud, yourselves and your families, and also you can see the country has taken note. You have raised the bar for everybody. It's great that all the teams who follow you now have something to aim for.

"You have given everybody belief that English players can be successful and you should have great belief in yourselves in what's possible now. Congratulations from all of us in the senior team."

Calvert-Lewin's goal means that he is one of only three Englishmen to score in a World Cup final - alongside Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.