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Gary Neville: England must be positive after Belgium defeat

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Gary Neville has called on England's players and supporters to be more positive than ever, despite Thursday's World Cup loss to Belgium.

Adnan Januzaj's second-half goal condemned Gareth Southgate's side to defeat in their final Group G match, which means they finish behind Belgium in the group and will now face Colombia in the last 16 on Tuesday.

If they win that match then they will face either Sweden or Switzerland in a potential quarter-final and Neville believes they have a once-in-a-generation chance to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

"The country has been euphoric and everyone has been overly positive in the last week," he told ITV.

"We should now be the most positive we've ever been. That's not being arrogant or ignorant, we could lose against Colombia on Tuesday, no doubt.

"But if you think back to 1990 when we had to beat Belgium and Cameroon to get to a World Cup semi-final, we've now got an opportunity to play Colombia and Sweden or Switzerland to get to a World Cup semi-final.

"In 1998 we had Argentina in round two, in 2002 it was Brazil with Rivaldo and all those players and in 2006 it was Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal. In 2010 it was Germany and in 2014 it was Italy and Uruguay in the group.

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"Those players now will be disappointed because they didn't play well, but what a chance. Be positive more than ever I think, now."

England boss Gareth Southgate consoles Jamie Vardy after the 1--0 defeat to Belgium
Image: England boss Gareth Southgate consoles Jamie Vardy after the 1-0 defeat to Belgium

Southgate made eight changes to the England side that thrashed Panama 6-1, opting to rest the tournament's leading goalscorer Harry Kane, but Belgium boss Roberto Martinez also fielded a second-string side.

And Neville says any optimism should be tempered by the fact that Belgium reserves like Mousa Dembele would get into the England team.

"That is the reality check," he added.

"Not that England have lost tonight but that there were players in that Belgium second XI that would be in our first XI. That's the reality check; Dembele would be in and a couple more.

"Sometimes when we got knocked out of tournaments you got home and you were really confident going into the game, but then the reality hit home that the players that were playing in the other teams were sometimes better."

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