As we head towards 2014, we asked a number of England coaches to pick out their favourite moments from the last 12 months.
First up is Under-21 Head Coach Gareth Southgate...
Football highlight of 2013?
There are two for me - England qualifying for the World Cup and the way Bayern Munich won the Champions League. England qualifying for a World Cup is so important for everything that happens in this country football-wise. The impact of that and the importance of us being in a finals tournament is huge so it was great to see us get there.
And I was privileged enough to go and watch Bayern play home and away against Barcelona in the semi-final and in the final at Wembley. I thought they were worthy winners of the Champions League. They have so many different attacking options, so many ways of scoring, not just by tight dribbling and getting in between people; they had good width, they had goals from crosses, they had individual bits of skill, they were able to switch play and they were great defensively. They were the complete team and worthy champions.
Favourite match of 2013?
That would have to be the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Bayern and Barcelona. Yes, Barcelona had an injury concern with Lionel Messi, but to see a team who had been seen as the standard-bearers for world football get absolutely ripped to shreds - in both legs - was an incredible thing.
And that makes you even more conscious of the fact that even when you win you’ve constantly got to improve and try and be better than you’ve been before – and that’s the challenge now for Bayern.
Most memorable moment away from football?
The sad and recent passing of Nelson Mandela. He was an incredible leader who had such an influence, not just on South Africa, but the world. Hopefully his legacy will last long, long after his sad death. For younger people to see what he went through, to become the leader that he did and have the influence that he did is a great lesson for them.
Band of the year?
London Grammar
Favourite film of the year?
I’ll have to hold my hands up... I can’t remember the last film I watched! When you get a new job you kind of immerse yourself in it so I haven’t had much time to go to the cinema this year to be honest.
Plans for Christmas?
I will spend some time with the family, but I will go out and watch as many matches involving my Under-21 players as I can. The amount of matches that are on over Christmas gives me a great opportunity to see a lot of my squad in a short space of time. That is very important because I want to keep up-to-speed as to where they’re at and look at any potential players that might come into the squad in the next six months or so.
Christmas is a time for families and football doesn’t always lend itself to that. My kids have grown up with me being at training on Christmas Day for most of their lives, so they’ll probably be sick of the sight of me by lunchtime!
Hopes and aspirations for 2014?
We want to continue the good work that we’ve done so far. We’ve had some really promising performances. I like the players’ attitude, I think there’s huge potential among them as a group. We now have to take on tougher challenges in the next eight months so we will have to reproduce the things we’ve done under greater pressure and against better opposition and that’s going to be a really exciting challenge.
