Southgate aims to end England's year to remember with Croatia revenge

Gareth Southgate has challenged England to end their "brilliant year" in memorable fashion by beating their World Cup conquerers Croatia at Wembley to reach the Nations League Finals on Sunday.

Southgate's side defied expectations earlier this year by reaching the World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1990, where they were beaten by Croatia after extra-time in a gruelling clash.

The England manager created a vibrant young group that revitalised the country's relationship with a national team that had been much maligned for their serial underachievement.

"It has been a brilliant year. Whatever happens on Sunday, we've had real shoots of progress and achieved some outstanding results and really good performances and blooded a lot of new players," said Southgate on Friday.

"It's given us a real depth to the squad and competition for places."
"So, it is a really good game for everybody to look forward to."
- Confident Croatia -
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"Coming to a full house at Wembley, they've got big players that will relish that challenge and we've got to relish that challenge as well."