England star Luke Shaw has claimed that his side will be respectful of rivals Wales if they beat them at the Qatar World Cup.
The two home nations face off on Tuesday in their last game of Group B, with both sides looking to qualify for the knockout rounds ahead of the USA and Iran.
Even after the lacklustre 0-0 with the USA, England’s place in the round-of-16 is all but guaranteed, but Wales’ first World Cup campaign for 64 years looks to be over already after losing 2-0 to Iran.
It would be easy for the Three Lions and their fans to revel in the delight of knocking their rivals out of the tournament, but Shaw says that that will not be the case as far as the players are concerned.
‘I think we are a respectful group. We do things in the right way,’ the Manchester United left-back said.
‘That’s the example Gareth [Southgate] wants to set. We are fully behind that. We are fully respectful. That’s the way Gareth sets us out to be.
‘I think their [Wales’] motivation is going to be extremely high. They are going to give everything to win.
‘It’s not an easy game. But we need to focus on what we do. The talent we have, the depth we have, we need to focus on ourselves. If we prepare properly, we should win the game.’
This is the first competitive meeting between the two nations since Euro 2016, where England came from behind to snatch a 2-1 win in injury time.
But Wales had the last laugh in the end, as they reached the semi-finals in France, while the Three Lions’ suffered a humiliating exit at the hands of minnows Iceland in the round-of-16.
Following that defeat, a leaked video of the Welsh squad widely celebrating England’s exit went viral, something that left English players and fans furious.
‘I think you could say that,’ Shaw, who was not at Euro 2016, added when asked if that video provided extra motivation for the current squad.
‘But our motivation in itself has to be at its highest level. We are at the World Cup. We have great aims for what we want to achieve.
‘We have to have the maximum motivation at every game. I don’t think there’s any more motivation than what we have already. We have to have 100% motivation in every training session and every game that we have.
‘It wasn’t nice. I don’t want to dwell too much on that. I want to focus on what we do on the pitch. We can say things in interviews and I’d rather do our talking on the pitch, rather than off it.’
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