MX23RW : Wednesday, January 8 04:55:21| >> :600:152349:152349:

Alan Shearer: 'England cannot start plotting route to World Cup final'

Alan Shearer insists that fans cannot follow the "arrogant" philosophy of England plotting their way to the latter stages of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Alan Shearer has criticised the "arrogant" school of thought suggesting that England can plot their way to the latter stages of the World Cup.

The Three Lions finished second in Group G following their 1-0 loss to Belgium on Thursday, Adnan Januzaj scoring a second-half winner for the Red Devils.

Ahead of the game, there were suggestions that neither team particularly wanted to finish first as the Group G winner would face either Brazil or Mexico in the quarter-finals, while the other team would play Sweden or Switzerland.

Speaking ahead of the last-16 tie against Colombia, England legend Shearer has urged people not to get ahead of themselves in assuming that any of the three teams in the first two knockout stages will be easy to beat.

"I don't think we can start picking and plotting our route to the final and say we only have to beat Sweden or Switzerland in the quarter-finals and we are in the last four," Shearer told BBC Sport.

"With our record at major tournaments, how on earth can we be so arrogant to look ahead like that, or think we will roll anyone over?

"England have won two knockout games at World Cups since 1990 - against Denmark in 2002 and Ecuador in 2006 - so, before we get carried away, let's deal with Colombia first."

England were famously beaten 2-1 by Iceland - then ranked 34th in the world - in the last 16 of Euro 2016.

ID:329529: cacheID:329529:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2475:
Written by
Giuseppe Labellarte
Restore Data
Share this article now:
 England's Raheem Sterling in action with Panama's Fidel Escobar on June 24, 2018
Read Next:
Shearer: 'Sterling has to do better'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool19144147192846
2Arsenal20117239182140
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest20124429191040
4Chelsea20106439241536
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle20105534221235
6Manchester CityMan City2010463627934
7Bournemouth209653023733
8Aston Villa209563032-232
9Fulham207943027330
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2061043029128
11Brentford208393835327
12Tottenham HotspurSpurs20731042301224
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd206592328-523
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham206592439-1523
15Crystal Palace204972128-721
16Everton193881525-1017
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2044123145-1416
18Ipswich TownIpswich2037102035-1516
19Leicester CityLeicester2035122344-2114
20Southampton2013161244-326


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!