England’s World Cup spirit still high despite defeat to Belgium, Tottenham star Kieran Trippier tells talkSPORT
Spurs defender insists the Three Lions are 'absolutely buzzing' and will be fully prepared for their last-16 clash against Colombia
Kieran Trippier has dismissed claims England lost their World Cup momentum with their 1-0 defeat to Belgium, insisting the team is still on a high after sealing their place in the last-16.
The Tottenham star was one of the first XI players rested by Gareth Southgate for Thursday’s clash, which the Belgians won 1-0 to finish at the top of Group G.
There have been claims the result, and Southgate’s decision to rotate his squad, could come back to bite England in their preparation for a tough last-16 meeting against Colombia.
But Trippier insists ‘nothing has changed’ and the mood in the camp in Russia has not been affected by the defeat.
“Everyone is absolutely buzzing about qualifying,” the Spurs defender told talkSPORT’s England correspondent Nigel Adderley.
“It’s a massive achievement because it’s not easy to qualify out of the group in a World Cup
“The mood is high, nothing has changed and we’re all excited and ready to go.”
Some will say England were boosted by the defeat to Belgium, as it handed them an easier possible route to the final.
However, they will first face a tricky clash against Colombia, who reached the quarter-finals at Brazil 2014, on Tuesday.
But Trippier says the England team have done their research and will be fully prepared to face the South Americans.
“We’ve done a lot of work on them,” the right-back added.
“When you look at the players they’ve got in the team and the way the qualified in their group as well, they’ve got some quality players and we need to be aware of that.
“They’re a very fit team who love to press, so we just need to play the way we’ve been playing, worry about our own game and about how we can hurt them.
“Hopefully we can do that on Tuesday night.”
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