Gareth Southgate feared he had missed his chance to manage England

• England manager feels ‘hugely fortunate’ to be in charge
• Southgate turned down chance with England two years ago

Gareth Southgate has admitted he feels “hugely fortunate” to be leading England into the knockout phase of a World Cup after fearing he had passed up his chance for ever to manage the national team exactly two years ago on Thursday.

The Football Association’s chief executive, Martin Glenn, had publicly and confidently suggested Southgate was “a pretty obvious one to pick” as an interim solution in the grim aftermath of England’s humiliating loss to Iceland at Euro 2016 while the governing body performed its intended exhaustive and global search to identify Roy Hodgson’s successor.

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from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2tyP5Tt