LITTLE BUGGER
World Cup 2018: England hero Dele Alli reveals Luka Modric’s hilarious reply after he nutmegged Croatia star in pre-season friendly
Tottenham star managed to meg Modric before he'd even played a Premier League game
THE theory goes that tomorrow night is when the World Cup gets truly serious for England.
Despite the glory of the nation’s greatest journey in 28 years, Croatia will represent a serious step up in class from anything they have faced in Russia.
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This lot are dripping with Champions League winners, not least Luka Modric, who has helped inspire Real Madrid to three in a row.
But Dele Alli isn’t too bothered about that.
You see, this was a kid who’d nutmegged Croatia captain Modric before he’d even made his Premier League debut — and happily admits that he’d love to do the same again in the match of his life in Moscow tomorrow night.
A kid who’s scored against each of Tottenham’s big-six rivals. And two against Real Madrid and a belter on his full England debut against France.
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And, of course, in Saturday’s 2-0 quarter-final victory over Sweden despite, by his own admission, having played like a drain up until that point.
This is a kid who says he never gets nervous.
A kid who’s determined to enjoy football’s grandest stage in a way he never could while getting lumps kicked out of him in League One with MK Dons.
In keeping with the rest of England’s squad at a World Cup which has been a triumph both on and off the pitch, Dele is wonderfully relaxed as he sprays around the anecdotes at base camp up in cool, leafy Repino.
So first up, Dele, tell us about the time you were called a ‘little bugger’ by Modric for slipping the ball between his legs in a 2015 pre-season friendly against Real Madrid in Munich’s Allianz Arena...
“I remember it,” he says, “I always enjoy a good nutmeg. I didn’t shout ‘megs!’ I have never done that, even in training.
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“Some people when they nutmeg (someone), they call it but it’s never been something I’ve done.”
So would he like to repeat the trick tomorrow night?
“Hopefully,” says Dele, “I’m not going to focus on that but it would be nice!
“I don’t know Modric personally. But the guys who played with him at Tottenham said he was an unbelievable person and everyone can see how good he is as a player.
“I think he’s a worry for any team, he’s world class and someone you enjoy watching. But we are confident, we have a lot of threats as well.”
Then I ask Dele to name a match that was the least glamorous he’s played in. The polar opposite of a World Cup semi-final.
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And without any need to rack his brains, he shoots back: “Bradford away.”
A gruff-speaking, burly journalist warns him: “I’m from Bradford . . . ”
“Oh, it’s a beautiful place!” laughs Dele, “but it was a night game, the pitch was horrible. It was a horrible game.
“They had (6ft 4in James) Hanson up front, they were very aggressive and it wasn’t nice.
“Every time I got the ball people would be kicking, swearing. An aggressive game. I’d signed for Tottenham already and then went back to MK on loan. And when I went back to Tottenham, they were telling me they’d watched that Bradford game. I was thinking, ‘Oh no . . . ’”
Modestly, Dele doesn’t recall scoring that night, in a 2-1 defeat, or that an on-loan Jordan Pickford was in goal for the Bantams.
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Much has been made of the lower-league roots shared by many of those aboard this Gareth Southgate fun-bus, with its satnav set for Paradise.
Dele said: “There are a lot of different paths you can take to getting to the England senior team. A lot of the boys have played together in the younger age groups, or played against each other in League One or Championship.
“But we all get on really well, we don’t take anything for granted, we know how much of a privilege it is to be here.”
Those formative years in Milton Keynes were not all about bruising encounters at places like Bradford.
There was the outstanding influence of his former youth coach Dan Micciche, who guided Dele through teenage years that included growing pains both literal and figurative.
And then there was the astonishing 4-0 thumping of Manchester United in the 2014-15 League Cup when a teenaged Dele tried — and failed — to get Danny Welbeck’s shirt.
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“Me and Danny have a joke about it because I asked him for his shirt,” Dele recalls. “He wouldn’t give it to me although he was polite about it, he wasn’t naughty.
“I’ve still got my shirt from that night. I wasn’t going to swap, I just wanted his!”
There have been setbacks on Dele’s path here. The most crushing blow of all was defeat by Iceland at Euro 2016, after which he admits, “I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me . . . I just wanted to
lock myself away”.
According to Mauricio Pochettino, this is the ‘best young player in the world’ and, in the view of Sir
Alex Ferguson, England’s greatest talent since Paul Gascoigne.
Yet after suffering a thigh injury in the opener against Tunisia, he had struggled to make an impact in the last-16 win over Colombia or against Sweden, up until the moment when he nodded home a Jesse Lingard cross to put England 2-0 up.
“I didn't feel like I was playing as well as I should have,” he admits.
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“Even speaking to my family, I didn't feel I was playing well, especially in the first half, not in possession of the ball anyway.
“Defensively I did my job but you want to be on the ball creating chances and being a threat. On the ball I wasn’t sharp enough, I didn't keep it as much as I should have.
"So to score, it gives you a lift. But I’m my own biggest critic.
“I’m not nervous. I know what I’m doing and I know I can play better.”
Keep your legs closed Luka, old son.
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