But after deciding last week to make the trip, he said he had been “blown away” by the welcome from the locals in Volgograd, where England will play Tunisia in their World Cup opener on Monday.
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All seemed to be going according to plan as England came out strong in the first half, with captain Harry Kane scoring an early goal, but Tunisia got one back before the break from a controversial penalty.
“People in England said don’t go, you won’t come back, but it’s been great”, he added as flag-draped England fans chanted Harry Kane’s name outside the 45,000-seater stadium.
England will continue its push for the World Cup on Sunday, June 24 against Panama, with a win likely coming close to securing the team a spot in the knockout round.
“It’s about players who have the ability to bring the ball out, drag players towards them and play behind them”.
While Kane took the plaudits, his manager was more interested in England’s cool heads under pressure as they refused to deviate from their measured possession game that Southgate has tried to hone.
Then he popped up again at the death to score his 10th goal in his last eight England games.
Larsson’s late equaliser had denied England maximum points from their group but they still progressed to face Ecuador in the last 16, winning 1-0 when David Beckham’s free-kick beat keeper Cristian Mora at his near post. The country are behind them and there has been more positivity from the press so far.
Maaloul lauded Tunisia, who are playing in their fifth World Cup finals but have never progressed past the group stage.
“But we recovered from a harsh decision and kept our composure, which pleased me”.
Two years ago during the European Championship, Harry Maguire was a fan in France watching his beloved England.
Shopping centre director Ian Cox said: “Like everyone else here tonight, I’m thrilled with England result”.
“We were warned about many things before coming to Russian Federation, but this was not one of them”.
The VARs somehow ignored the manhandling of Kane after Ferjani Sassi netted from a penalty controversially awarded by referee Wilmar Roldan for a wayward arm by Kyle Walker.
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Hosting the BBC’s coverage of the game, Lineker was seen jumping from his seat and screaming with delight as Kane nodded home, a reaction probably mirrored by most other Englishmen.
