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WIL GO ALL THE WAY
England vs Colombia: Jack Wilshere says England CAN win the World Cup – thanks to Gareth Southgate
Midfielder also looks back on that Iceland defeat at Euro 2016
JACK WILSHERE says England CAN win the World Cup - and boss Gareth Southgate has given the Three Lions the "platform" to go all the way.
England go into their last-16 tie against Colombia with their best chance at World Cup glory in decades.
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Germany, Spain, Portugal and Argentina have all been eliminated - something Wilshere describes as "madness" - while Croatia and Belgium just about squeezed through to the quarter-finals.
England have played some of the best football in Russia and the mood in the camp is a lot more confident than in past tournaments.
Wilshere, 26, says that's down to Southgate.
Wilshere, speaking exclusively to SunSport ahead of attending the William Hill arms for England vs Colombia, said: "The biggest thing is Gareth is great at listening to the players.
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I'm going for 2-1 England, Harry Kane to score both
Wilshere's prediction
"He's a modern manager, a new manager, it wasn't that long ago that he was a player.
"So he knows what the players want, what they need to perform at their peak and he's getting the best out of them.
"They've got players playing with freedom, without fear, you need that in any big competition.
"Sometimes it's been accused that there has been that element of fear and worrying what people are going to think.
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"But this team seem to be playing without that and I'm looking forward to it."
England players have been seen swimming on inflatable unicorns, at theme parks and playing darts, and bowling.
Wilshere, who has 34 caps for England and played at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016, says players motivate themselves for games - but keeping them interested during downtime is another story.
"Players motivate themselves," he says, "but when you're away from the pitch sometimes there are long breaks between games.
"You're away from home and you have to find something that keeps the players happy and content.
"It's a long time away from home and that's the hardest thing, not seeing kids and family."
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Wilshere was part of the infamous England side that crashed out to minnows Iceland at Euro 2016.
The midfielder started on the bench but came on as Roy Hodgson's side desperately tried to find a goal.
Looking back, he says: "Going into that game everyone expected us to win. We did among each other.
"We went 1-0 up and everything was going to plan and even when we went 2-1 down we were thinking, 'we'll be alright, we'll make chances'.
"And the longer the game went on, we got more anxious and just couldn't play, we didn't play well at all.
"We started alright. I was still thinking 'we've got enough here, we're gonna create more opportunities,' but it never happened.
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"We didn't create a proper chance, we created half chances and had a lot of possession but we were just moving the ball side-to-side.
"That's what I like about this team, they've got players who can make the difference, break lines, beat a player and make something happen."
Some of that is because of the players, Wilshere says, but the manager has played a big part as well.
"The individuals obviously have the ability, but they've also got to have the confidence to do that and play the way they play for their clubs.
"Gareth has given them the platform to do that, and taken the pressure off them."
- Jack Wilshere, was speaking at the which offers fans the ultimate England experience with expert analysis, Love Island stars serving William Hill’s own craft lager, Fat Les singing Vindaloo and Kirsty Gallacher’s fan Q&A. Join the fun by searching #ThisIsMore on social media #itscominghome
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