Netherlands beat Senegal; Southgate happy with England
Gareth Southgate admitted he was a happy man after his side kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 6-2 win against Iran on Monday, but he also insisted they would have to improve if they want to go all of the way in the competition.
Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen struck late goals as the Netherlands beat Senegal 2-0 in their FIFA World Cup Group A clash here on Monday.
Meanwwhile, England coach Gareth Southgate admitted he was a happy man after his side kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 6-2 win against Iran on Monday, but he also insisted they would have to improve if they want to go all of the way in the competition.
England produced an impressive display, full of pace and movement and were rewarded by two goals from Bukayo Saka, along with efforts from Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish.
“To win by that margin, to play as we did for the majority of the game, we’ve got to be really happy. We looked ready,” said Southgate after the game.
“Our press was really good, our movement was really good and I’ve got to be really happy,” he added.
However, Southgate also demanded more from his side defensively.
“We shouldn’t be conceding two goals at that stage of the game. We’ll have to be right on our game against the States. It’s a great start, but we’ll have to be better. We lost concentration and when we play at a slower tempo, we’re not anywhere near as effective,” he warned.
19-year-old Bellingham also spoke after the game in which he opened the scoring with a looping header after drifting into the penalty area to meet Luke Shaw’s cross.
“I thought (my goal) had missed! It took ages to loop into the goal,” he admitted. “It was a brilliant ball from Shaw and a really proud moment for me,” he said.
“It’s a really good day for us. Six goals in a World Cup game is really impressive, regardless of who you’re playing.”
“We didn’t have anything clear for quite a while. But with more goals we opened them (Iran) up.
“It’s important we learn how to create chances against sides like that. But we’re a bit disappointed with the (Iran’s) two goals to be honest,” he noted, concluding that England would look for “two more wins” in the group and then take “that mentality into hopefully the rest of the tournament.”
England will play their second group game against the United States on Friday.
