England hold first news conference at their Qatar World Cup base – as it happened
England hold their first news conference at their World Cup base in Al Wakrah after their first training session in Qatar ahead of the start of the tournament. Subscribe to Guardian Football ► http://is.gd/GuardianFootball The Guardian publishes independent journalism, made possible by supporters. Contribute to The Guardian today ► https://bit.ly/3uhA7zg Sign up to the Guardian's free new daily newsletter, First Edition ► http://theguardian.com/first-edition Website ► https://www.theguardian.com Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/theguardian Twitter ► https://twitter.com/guardian Instagram ► https://instagram.com/guardian The Guardian on YouTube: The Guardian ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs Guardian News ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs Guardian Australia ► https://bit.ly/guardianaussubs Guardian Sport ► https://bit.ly/gdnsportsubs Guardian Live ► https://bit.ly/guardianlivesubs England Qatar WorldCup JamesMaddison
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foreign foreign foreign foreign thank you foreign everybody and welcome to this opening press conference from our media center here in our apologies for the slight delaying beginning um there's quite a few here so what I'm asking in terms of housekeeping laws if you can just raise your hand and before you ask your question if you can just state your name and who you work for as well um if we're going to sort of a couple of questions each that'd be much appreciated so we can get around as many of you as possible we'll start with Rob Dorset from Sky News so Rob when you're ready yeah that's it too um well I was actually in a in Brendan's office having a chat with him about about stuff and about the day and he asked me if I'd heard anything um and I hadn't at that point and we were talking through he was just being a being a good man manager and putting his arm around me if if I didn't get the call and how it would look and how Saturday how to try and stay motivated for Saturday's game and then enjoy the break kind of thing and went back down to the changing room after and had a missed call of Gareth Southgate so the heart starts beat him I had his number saved still um and uh went up and called him back and and um he gave me the good news and like I just said to you in there it was a it was all a little bit of a blur but after the call finished and he had told me that I was in it was a head on the wall moment big deep breath and uh and then called my parents so yeah it's okay yeah we had a we had a scan the day before we met up which was which was a positive scan I had a little problem little problem in the week building up to the West Ham game and after like post Everton game which was the week before for us um and I wanted to play I wanted to I didn't want to not give it a go because of the World Cup and that's not the type of person I am I didn't want to have that attitude I wanted to help Leicester because the focus was still was still there and managed to obviously score early and and carry on for a little bit after that but it was there was it was a bit of soreness and it was getting a little bit a little bit worse as the as the game went on so I thought it was probably the best for me to come off as and get someone else on where who wouldn't have a little problem in in that full Sprint and that full extent but um like I said we've had the scan since and it was a good scan it wasn't wasn't any major problems have to do a little bit of work to go up to speed with the physios here and stuff but um should be no concern is told well I hope not no obviously we've got to take a few boxes we only got here yesterday so um we've got to take a few boxes with the physio team there might be a little bit of separate work extra work to make sure that's right and it's not a problem because I want to be I want to be fully 100 if if called upon so um but yeah hopefully I'm hopeful that I'll be fine for you thank you no I never felt like it gone there's obviously times where you might feel like you're playing well and wasn't selected which was the case for a couple of times but it's about having the right mindset I think and and staying hungry to achieve and not kind of thinking that it's a closed door because we've seen with Gareth especially in the past that he's brought players back in if they're in good form and stuff and thankfully that was me for for this tournament I managed to squeeze my way into the squad which I was very very happy about but um I don't think at any point I thought it was a closed door and the opportunity had gone it was just about staying hungry and almost using the the rejection of not being caught up in previous campuses motivation to try and get back in and force my way back in there no no bitterness I know gareth's the England England manager and he's got a lot of talent at his disposal um but just keeping that mindset of staying hungry scoring assist in affecting games and showing that I can be an asset for him at this level yeah I think we've all seen England at major tournaments in in recent years and they've been brilliant I mean at the Euros you could see there was a there was a feel about the euros and in Russia that the togetherness was was all there for for everyone to see publicly in-house and and coming back into the squad and and meeting up in the first few days it's been the same same sort of thing and you can feel it you know there's a real good energy and you've obviously heard ex-players in the past talk about maybe when they met up with England um in previous years about it being a bit a bit I don't know the atmosphere not being right maybe a little bit of rivalry from from certain clubs but there's just no feel of that here there's such a good group such a young uh well-balanced group of young players and experienced players and just don't think that'll be a problem just finally for me we obviously live in a country where being lgbtq is you know widely accepted and hopefully embraced um what are your feelings about coming somewhere where being a member of that Community is not only immoral but also illegal well I think I think firstly obviously as as England players and in the fa um put a statement out and I think aware of the the problems and the issues here but we're we're a very we're people who stand for diversity and inclusivity and I think that's what it said in the statement and and that's all I'm going to say on that because I think probably not educated enough and on the whole on the whole thing to make a comment and don't want to say something something wrong you know so um that's what I will say about hi James Faker others talksport nice to see you um I don't know whether you listen to our station and have heard the clamoring by every punder every fan who rings in that you had to be in this England squad was there a part of you that felt you absolutely with your form in the Premier League this season had to be part of this squad no no I don't think I'd put it like that but I was I was hopeful you know the one thing I always say when I've been talked about my my exclusion and from the squad was that the one thing I can control is my form and and what I do at Leicester and um that is what I'm in control of and the rest I always said will take care of itself and then leaves the decision with the England manager that he wants to pick me or not and thankfully my form has been good enough and and people are talksport or ever have been talking but it's all it's all it's all noise you know and I just tried to stay focused I think that the best chance I could have given myself to get in the squad was just staying focused on what I was doing at Leicester and then and it's worked out it's worked out all right here I am yeah it certainly has what's it like when you hear that the England manager is coming to watch one of your games leading into a major tournament what's that like as a player well I think you don't you don't actually you don't actually hear it you I don't think I've ever been at a game where I've where I've known that gareth's been there to be honest until until afterwards someone might say oh yeah Southgate was here today or you might see it in if they zoom in on the stands or something I don't think I've ever actually gone into a game knowing Gareth Gareth is going to be there um and I'm not sure how I'd feel because I don't think I've been in that situation just finally um I saw you guys all earlier doing all your green screen media um things everybody seemed very very chilled out the question IR I get asked every time I go on air is what's the mood like in Camp so let's hear it directly from you instead the mood's brilliant you know we we've come out here we've got an absolutely fantastic Hotel the team we have here at the fa in England seconds and then the the setup we've got in our hotel is absolutely brilliant all down to the Finer Things like the little touches like going checking into my room and and there's like little frame pictures of my my little boy and my family and my mum and dad that they do and just the little things like that so um and like I said you saw the media at the media stuff earlier everyone's in good spirits um a lot of excitement and can't wait to get going yeah brilliant stuff thank you James thank you hello James Carrie pins for um you said after you spoke to Gareth the next thing you did was pick up the phone to your mum and dad what was that conversation like after you all you've been through uh well my dad actually my dad actually cried and my dad's not a cryo no I don't think I've seen my dad cry for years you know um happy tears of course because your family and your parents they're on this journey with you you know it's so when you when sometimes you might feel when in previous years I've been left out of squads where I thought I might have had a chance the disappointment of that is is spread across the family because your family want what's best for you and so but on the opposite end of the scale of the happiness comes for them as well and and my mum and dad actually the the day the day of the announcement on the Thursday I think it was um after training I actually wanted to go see him in person I went home back to Coventry and had dinner at home with with my mum and dad and my little boy and my partner so um because I wanted to see because that's a moment that I'll cherish forever you know after that the actual phone call was a bit of a blur right I couldn't tell you what Gareth said to be fair it was just all very uh heart and mouth moments but um I wanted to see him give my mom a big hug and it was a special day for all of us and like I said one I'll definitely never forget it's quite poetic you talk about being with your little boy for that moment when you posted that photo five days ago with you with the face paint of you I think was it a Beckham head shave um that's an iconic moment that free kick with David Beckham not on a World Cup stage but got into a major tournament and we know you're very good at those set of pieces what will it mean to you to step up and execute something like that on the world stage and you do it so coolly are you going to be able to manage with this stage yeah well firstly uh I'm not sure it was the the Beckham hair shave I think it was just Barber's quite expensive and mum and dad probably couldn't afford it but um because my mum used to get the Clippers out every couple of weeks and it was a number two all over so um but the moment like you spoke about Like Beckham and set pieces moments like that they they they stick around forever like how many times have we all watched Beckham's free kick versus Grease to send us to a major tournament and and moments like that they're the moments that you literally dream of they're the ones that if it could go perfectly to plan their the moments and major and big moments of that in major tournaments are the special ones that get replayed for years and years and you go down in history so um to get one like that would be absolutely unbelievable but um that'd be the real Pinnacle and a real dream yeah you can get them crying at home after saying something like that everyone's getting so excited what did Gareth Southgate say to you in that huddle in it's such a change isn't it the heat the palm trees it will be 20 degrees Celsius in the stadium thankfully but what did he say in that huddle you were there for a long time what was his message to you all you mean out on the pitch today yeah yeah well Stephen Steve spoke Steve Holland about a little bit about the train and what we would do and then what I'd mean to to go deep in this tournament and what it's going to take and it's going to take a lot there's so many nations that are strong and and how focused and dedicated we're going to have to be to the cause and and we all know that we're all on the same page so we're all excited Scott uh Steve's gone from ITV News I I just wondered um obviously the lead in to the action starting is so short this time unusually what does Gareth said about that and how you're going to have to approach this week well Steve actually said today I think to the last tournament there was there was 28 sessions from the last game from the meet up to the first game whereas this is going to be like four or five or whatever um which is obviously different but it's new to everyone you know I'm not we're not actually sure how it's gonna how it's gonna fare because you don't know it's the first time there's been a mid-season uh World Cup like this so um but it's about the good thing is that a lot of the lads have been playing and and are in good form and regular minutes of Club football so it's not exactly like they're going to need a lot of time to to get up to speed at the majority of the lads play in Europe as well where the games are every three to four days so I don't think it's going to be a fitness problem anything like that it's just um probably the preparation is is not as dragged out over three to four weeks you're straight in and you need to probably more important that you need to hit the ground running because there's not enough there's not as much time to repair yeah yeah and you don't get the benefit of playing together yeah exactly there's no friendly games and nothing like that um especially myself in an Ideal World you'd want you'd want the the long the long build up but it's the same for everyone and it it's almost that you don't have that that anti anticipation of of many weeks of building up to that first game because you're straight in and probably takes a little bit it probably helps on the mental side of things that we straight in and there's no there's no overthinking to do so um trying to look at the positives of the quick start yeah I just one on a personal level when you finally got settled in last night and went to bed did you lie there thinking wow I'm here this is it well when I was lying there I was thinking I hope the aircon goes a little bit colder than this to be honest um but yeah every moment at the minute is almost like a Pinchy Moment Like and it sounds a bit cliche but just getting on the plane and then getting off the plane seeing the reception we got from from locals and just every moment you turn up to the training complex day the media stuff it's all it's all a bit surreal and obviously my first major tournament so um just trying to take it all in hi James Simon Peach from PA it's just a quick one you said that Brendan was being a good manager and stuff were you expecting bad news that day I think I was kind of braced for both a little bit I think the saying of almost like hoping for the best but preparing for the worst I haven't been in the squad for three years and I'm not I'm not naive I understand how it works and stuff and but I also had that hope you know that I was playing while I was in good form I was in goal scorer and former I've been a threat for for a little while now on the pitch and and was hoping for the for the for the good call instead of the bad call and there was obviously some players that Miss out and stuff but thankfully I was on the receiving end of a good phone call from Gareth and um like I said why not and I've never forget you you strike us as a competent player a confident individual but when you were being overlooked in the past did that ever Dent that confidence did it make you question yourself there was definitely times where you question certain things and what what am I doing that's not getting me in the England squad um I think you have to because you almost otherwise you have a little bit it almost might be a little bit arrogant of not improving you know because I was I'm obviously the the Pinnacle is playing for England right and when you feel like you're playing well and you might be deserved of a call off and you don't get it you kind of got to tell yourself that where how can I how can I do better to get in instead of having the arrogance if I should be in you know and and I think I did that and I worked very hard behind the scenes at Leicester and on how I can score more how how can I assist more to to almost try and force a manager's hand to to not so he can't leave me out you know and um but then on the balance of that you've kind of always got to have that self-belief and and remind yourself of why you're why you are where you are and why you're even in the picture and stuff so it's about getting that balance I'd say Hyatt Rob Harrison Sky News uh good luck with the tournament so often around a tournament as a clamor around one particular player probably had it with Jack grealish around the Euros the fans hoping there's a player who can add that little bit of extra difference and creativity and Spark do you think you can be that player that helps England finally win a major men's trophy again I hope so yeah I mean the way I've got to look at it I've got to be ready when called upon you know like I've just said I feel like I'm in good form I've been in good goal scoring form and we've got such a brilliant brilliant Squad that you might only get that one moment that one chance to to go and show everyone what you can do and and be the man to to help the team and um I'll be ready when that opportunity comes yeah um hi John Weaver from AFP do you think the excuse me England's dipping results over the past year might have lessened the pressure a little bit um on the unexpect in terms of expectations from fans I think fans always have the highest expectations I think it's probably eight or nine Nations where the the group of fans will be expecting their team to win and that's just how football works you know it's um either it's the same at Club football you're the fans always have very high expectations probably too high at most clubs because that's just how it is and fans always want to see see the best for the team that they're supporting so um just so we know the expectations are high and in the last two major tournaments have been absolutely brilliant the boys have semi-final and then a final he could which is only that one step further you can go and that's winning it so they're right to have high expectations we've got a brilliant group and hopefully we can we can go all the way yeah okay guys we'll conclude the live section there and we'll move on to a very short section and bar good until 10 30 p.m UK time today hello James John Kohler mirror hello um I was just going to ask you if you touched on the air conditioning and we always know that qatar's hot obviously but has the the temperatures surprised you um and and what do you think the sort of I mean it was similar training time today uh for the first time kickoff wouldn't it