Southgate’s side were regarded as having a potentially easy route to the last 16 when they were placed in Group G with Tunisia, Panama and Belgium.<\/p>\n
England have not won an opening group game at a major tournament since beating Paraguay at the 2006 World Cup in Germany – and Southgate believes they have not been given a comfortable ride in Russia.<\/p>\n
He said: “When the draw was made, everyone had this perception that it was the easiest group. I would argue it is one of the most difficult with ourselves, Tunisia and, of course, Belgium, in terms of the Fifa world rankings.”<\/p>\n
Roberto Martinez’s Belgium are ranked third while England are 12th and Tunisia 21st. Panama are 55th.<\/p>\n
Southgate is full of respect for Tunisia coach Nabil Maaloul and his side, saying: “For every opponent, we would prepare exactly the same – not to flood the players with information about the opposition. I think we’ve done the same with Tunisia as we would for Brazil.<\/p>\n
“We’ve highlighted their style of play. We’ve highlighted the areas we feel we can exploit. They are a good team. They like to play. I like their coach’s ideas. They’re very organised. They like to play from the back. Their organisation against Spain was excellent and this is a big test for us.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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