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'Incredible infrastructure & great facilities': England manager Southgate lauds Russia 2018 setup

24 Jun, 2018 17:49
'Incredible infrastructure & great facilities': England manager Southgate lauds Russia 2018 setup
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© Lee Smith / Reuters

England manager Gareth Southgate has heaped praise on the Russia 2018 World Cup infrastructure and stadiums and admits he and his team have "been really looked after" in the country.

"In Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod everything was great. The stadiums, the infrastructure, the great facilities. The stadiums in both cities are incredible. They are architecturally beautiful," Southgate said.

"Even in St. Petersburg there were still people closing the roads off for us when we were returning to the training base (in nearby Repino) at 5am after the Tunisia game. It's been really good, we've been taken care of in Russia," he added. 

Southgate was speaking at the press conference after his England side thrashed minnows Panama 6-1 in their Group G game at Nizhny Novgorod Arena. 

Captain Harry Kane grabbed a hat-trick as England scored six goals in a World Cup finals game for the first time in their history.

As a result, England advanced from the group stage with one game to spare owing to their opening game win over Tunisia in Volgograd on Monday. England will now play Belgium in Kaliningrad on Thursday with the winner of that match advancing from the group in first place.