Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic full of praise for England as he admits Three Lions are on course for silverware
Gareth Southgate's side's victory in a must-win thriller sealed a Nations League finals spot in Portugal next summer
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HARRY KANE’S late winner had England fans singing ‘It’s coming home’.
And even moody Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic agrees!
The Three Lions fought back with two late goals to gain revenge for their World Cup semi-final defeat.
And victory in a must-win thriller sealed a Nations League finals spot in Portugal next summer.
England’s ‘anthem’ upset some Croatia stars, including Luka Modric, last summer.
The Baddiel and Skinner track promptly rung out around Wembley after England's comeback.
Nations League... so what happens next?
WHEN IS THE DRAW?
MONDAY, December 3 at 1.30pm in Dublin — although Uefa say that’s still to be confirmed.
WHEN AND WHERE ARE THE FINALS?
THE semis are on Wednesday, June 5 and Thursday, June 6 at Porto’s Estadio Dragao and Guimaraes’ Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques. The final and third-place play-off are both on Sunday, June 9.
WHO’S IN IT?
THE hosts Portugal, Switzerland plus either France or Holland . . . and, of course, ENGLAND!
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE WIN THE FINAL?
A TROPHY at last but we don’t automatically qualify for Euro 2020. The bonus is we are already guaranteed a five-team group rather than six, as well as a one-legged play-off semi in March 2020 if we don’t qualify.
WHAT’S IT WORTH?
ENGLAND netted £2.67m in prize money for getting through. The Nations League winners get £4m, with £3.11m to the losing finalists, £2.22m for finishing third and £1.33m for fourth.
WHEN IS THE DRAW FOR EURO 2020 QUALIFIERS?
ON Sunday, December 2 from 11am in Dublin — the day before the planned Nations League finals draw.
WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR PLAY-OFF PLACE IF WE QUALIFY FOR EURO 2020 VIA OUR GROUP?
A TOTAL of 20 teams will qualify for the Euro finals from ten groups — plus four more teams who win through from the play-offs.
If the Three Lions qualify from their Euro group, their play-off spot goes to the next nation in the rankings.
But Dalic admitted: “It’s coming home very soon.”
Jesse Lingard and captain Kane got Wembley rocking — particularly at the final whistle when the terrace classic blasted out to send fans home buzzing.
Dalic, whose side ended up being relegated, added: “England showed at the World Cup, where they exceeded expectations, that they are coming through. They have a young and extremely fast team.
“I’d like to congratulate them on a deserved win. We didn’t play very well in the first half and were lucky to get in 0-0. I’m not very sad.”
'England are a force... we belong at top level'
By ALAN SHEARER
WHEN England got the equaliser through Jesse Lingard, I turned to my son and said, ‘we’ll win this now’.
It’s not often we have believed that when watching England in recent years.
We beat Spain away when the pressure was off, now we’ve beaten Croatia at home when all the pressure was on.
That sends a message to other countries, the big countries, when we play them again in the Nations League finals and beyond.
They now know England are a force to be reckoned with. We belong at this level and are not fazed by this level of opposition any more.
England midfielder Fabian Delph said: “It was an absolutely amazing day.
“We’ve come a long way in 12 months. We came up short at the World Cup but we wanted to put it right and we’ve done that today.
“They’re a good team but our performance was really good. We should have put it to bed in the first half. We’re a young team but we have old heads on our shoulders and we didn’t panic.
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“It showed a lot of character and there’s a lot of character in the dressing room. The togetherness has been there for 18 months now.
“We’re really looking forward to that semi-final now. In the dressing room the energy was electric. We’re glad we can do ourselves proud and to bring the nation together.”
Lingard, who made it 1-1, said: “We kept the confidence, spirit and togetherness from the World Cup.”