Eric Dier says England 'fear no-one' in Euro 2016 knock-outs

Wednesday 22 Jun 2016
Eric Dier in action against Portugal

Eric Dier says England will fear nobody in the knock-out stages of Euro 2016.

The Three Lions are waiting to see who they will face in the round of 16 at the Stade de Nice next Monday evening, with the final Group F fixtures taking place on Wednesday afternoon.

But whether it turns out to be Hungary, Portugal, Iceland or Austria, the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder believes no-one will be keen on facing England.

England

England, like Eric Dier' brave header here, have no fear of potential knock-out round opponents in Euro 2016

"We’ll wait and see who we get in the last-16, but we should not fear anyone,” said Dier, after England were held by a 0-0 draw by Slovakia to seal a second-placed finish in Group B.

"I am sure there are lots of teams in this tournament who would not want to play us judging on how we have played in the first three games. 

"Of course we couldn’t win them all, but in general our play has been very good and very positive, and I am sure there are plenty who won’t want to face us."

Dier and the rest of the squad will be watching on with interest from their Euro base in Chantilly, as Hungary play Portugal and Iceland take on Austria.

And for Dier, there’s a chance he could be coming up against some familiar faces should Portugal progress in second spot, with the 22-year-old having come through the ranks to start his career with Sporting Lisbon.

"I grew up with quite a few of their squad," he revealed. 

"There is William Carvalho, Joao Mario, Rui Patricio the goalkeeper, who I played with a lot at Sporting, and Adrien Silva. 

"Plus, I played a few times against Andre Gomes in the youth teams. So I do know quite a few of them.

"There are players I looked up to from a young age and of course there are ones I look at and think I can learn from."

England and Portugal met at Wembley in a friendly ahead of Euro 2016

 


By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels