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Highlights: Colombia 1-1 England (3-4 pens)
Gareth Southgate may well be England’s favourite son right now.
The man in the M&S waistcoat successfully led his Three Lions to a maiden World Cup penalty shootout victory over Colombia, sealing their place in the quarter-finals in Russia.
Southgate, however, knows only too well the pain of being on the wrong side of spot-kicks – wind the clock back 22 years and he missed the penalty that led to England crashing out of Euro ’96.
That was evident on Tuesday as, after congratulating his players, he sought to comfort distraught Colombia midfielder Mateus Uribe.
It was an act spurned an outpouring of love for the England boss on social media, leading one fan to start the Twitter hashtag #GarethSouthgateWould.
And there’s a lot he would do, apparently.
Southgate was quick to comfort Colombia’s players following their defeat by his England sideIt started with a tweet
When this tweet was posted, little did ‘Phlegm Clandango’ know what he was starting.
By 19:00 BST on Wednesday, the hashtag had been used in more than 9,000 tweets.
Everyone from Amnesty International to the London Ambulance Service got involved as it soon shot to the top of Twitter’s trends for the UK.
Neighbourhood watchman
In between working at St George’s Park and watching Premier League matches every weekend, Southgate may not be able to spend that much time at home.
But we reckon he’d be the ideal neighbour. Need your hedge trimming? Run out of milk? Car needs jump-starting? Gareth’s your man.
Dream co-worker
We all have that one colleague with annoying habits. Or the co-worker who steals other people’s food from the fridge.
Gareth Southgate is neither of those.
Best pal
Everybody needs a Gareth Southgate in their lives.
We imagine he’s the friend who is always there for you. That friend who would do anything for you. That friend without whom life would be that little bit duller.
Mick Cooper is clearly the chairman of the Gareth Southgate Appreciation Society. But we like it.
Pride of the pack
It is fair to say expectations were low as England flew out to Russia last month. But in reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since THAT match against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in 2006, World Cup fever has well and truly peaked.
And if football really is coming home, Southgate is the man we all have to thank.
Read more: ‘Southgate you’re the one’ – England boss praised for compassion
Source: bbc.com
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