Southgate wishes England colleagues well

England defender Gareth Southgate waved his international colleagues off on their Euro 2004 mission today confident they can return with the trophy.

The Middlesbrough skipper, whose dreams of playing in Portugal were shattered by a knee injury, is as excited as any onlooker as Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side prepare for their opener against European Champions France next Sunday, although he knows they will face a major test of their credentials.