DOHA — Gareth Southgate has increased security at his own home during the World Cup due to concerns about the safety of his family.
Raheem Sterling flew back to England last Sunday, the day of England’s match against Senegal, when he discovered that his house had been burgled.
A spokesperson for Sterling said armed thugs had burgled the house while his family were inside, but police later said that nobody had been at home.
Sterling is not due to start against France in England’s crunch quarter-final, having only returned to Doha on Friday morning. He trained with the rest of the squad, including Declan Rice, who has recovered from an illness.
“I had a long discussion with Raheem,” Southgate said. “What I heard was enough concern that he had for his family that it was the right thing for him to go home.
“I could relate to it. I’ve had to put extra security at home because pictures of my house have been published through this tournament. My wife was concerned about that. None of that is helpful. These are the sorts of spin-offs you have when you are involved with England. So I could totally understand where Raheem was in terms of feeling the need to look after his family at that time.”
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Southgate recalled when Fabian Delph left England’s training base during the Russia World Cup after his wife went into labour, explaining how it is better to let players deal with family matters than have them around the camp worrying.
“You know that you really want them around for the game, but if they have got other things going on in their life that are difficult to be dealing with in that moment, I think any modern workplace has got to understand those things,” he said.
Against France, Southgate is expected to stick with the 4-3-3 formation that has served England so well and has set 19-year-old Jude Bellingham free from central midfield. England have scored 12 goals, conceded two and kept three successive clean sheets. He could well pick the same starting XI.
Southgate and his staff were up at 9am the morning after the Senegal victory for an extensive debrief on France by a coach who has been monitoring them for two years and attended all their Qatar World Cup games.
By Monday evening, Southgate and his closest staff members had watched back all France’s games, reviewed the Senegal match and decided which formation to play.
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“There will be moments where France have bits of play and we have to accept that we are not going to stop them creating a chance and having a spell in the game. But we have to continue to be brave when those things happen.”
Asked if the France game carried any greater significance when it could be his last in the World Cup as England manager, he said: “I remember, in 1996 [Euros], Stuart Pearce saying, ‘This is always a strange one because you don’t know if you are coming back to the hotel to pack your bags or if you are coming back for another fortnight.’”
The England manager insisted he is not contemplating flying home just yet. “I am just excited by the challenge. It is not the stage where we are ready to go home. It is not the point where we are thinking of going home.”
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