“The really big results were in March, winning in Italy and the result against Ukraine,” he said. “It meant coming here tonight was a different test, given we’ve qualified and everything was achieved.
“The mentality of the players was excellent, the quality with the ball was good on a very difficult pitch and a lot of positive performances.”
There was also a word of praise for debutant Rico Lewis, who gave away the contentious penalty but recovered to win Player of the Match. “He was excellent,” Southgate added. “His composure with the ball, the fact that he did respond to that set-back [the penalty], which was really, really harsh. He is a super footballer, he was excellent I thought and we’re really pleased with him.”
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