GARY NEVILLE last night warned: ‘England's Euro 2016 dream is still on a knife-edge

EXCLUSIVE: England defender Gary Neville

We're on a knife edge

 

England face Croatia in Lisbon tomorrow knowing a point will be enough to carry them into the last eight.

But Neville has spoken out in a bid to dampen the euphoria which has engulfed the nation since Thursday's 3-0 win over Switzerland.

Manchester United star Neville, who has won 65 caps, knows from bitter experience how clashes like these can go horribly wrong.

Neville, 29, said: "I'm very wary of the fact that football can kick you in the teeth. I have been in this position before and it all went wrong.

Tricky

"I remember Euro 2000 vividly. We lost our first game 3-2 to Portugal but we were euphoric after the second match when we beat Germany 1-0.

"We certainly thought we would then go on to the quarter-finals.

"And we were left in a similar situation to the one we face now.

"We only needed a point against Romania and everybody thought: ‘Here we go'.

"Yet four days later we had lost 3-2 and were heading home. That could happen again this time so we have to be careful."

Neville then explained why matches like this can be so tricky.

He said: "These games bring their own difficulties. We are playing a decent side and if it is 0-0 or 1-1 with 10 or 15 minutes to go, it's going to be a nervy finish.

"We must decide whether to stick or twist. I just hope we're not in that position."

Neville (pictured right battling with Zinedine Zidane in the opener against France) is not underestimating the abilities of the Croats — especially after their 2-2 draw with the French means a victory over England will see through to the quarter-finals.

He warned: "I expect Croatia to be better than Switzerland.

"They had Bernt Haas sent off after an hour and, until then, they had made it difficult for us.

"We were lucky to be winning 1-0 at half-time. They had a lot of free kicks in dangerous positions and must have felt a bit unfortunate.

"But you have to take any bit of luck that comes your way."

Neville is convinced this England side — with the likes of David Beckham and Steven Gerrard (right) in it — is better than four years ago.

In fact, he believes this is the best squad he has been involved with since he made his debut in June, 1995.

He said: "I believe there's a lot more here than we had four years ago — an awful lot more — and I should know because I played in both tournaments.

"Everybody can see our quality — we carry a much bigger threat."

But he admitted that events can still go against you, no matter how well you play.

Decisions

He said: "Look what happened against France in our opening match. We conceded two goals in the last two minutes — it shouldn't have happened but it did.

"Who's to say we won't get a couple of bad refereeing decisions or have somebody sent off against Croatia?

"You simply never know what's going to happen in football.

"I'm just hoping we can put on a performance of the quality we showed against the French and get a result this time."

And he believes being back in Lisbon and the later kick-off time will help England's cause.

He revealed: "There are certain things which should be more to our advantage — especially the conditions.

"The stadium in Lisbon is fantastic and the English support there will be massive again.

"Switzerland wasn't about performance. As soon as we arrived in Coimbra we knew we were never going to put on a great display there. It was too hot and sticky.

"As I walked out for training on Wednesday, I thought it was going to be a pain game, one of those you just have to get through.

"I remember Terry Venables saying to me before my first appearance for England: ‘International football is hard work' — and it was certainly hard work on Thursday.

"But against France last Sunday the conditions were right and the evening temperature is a lot better for English players."

Suffered

Neville also reckons there is plenty more to come from England.

He added: "We can all step up a gear — and if we do step up to a different level in the knockout stages, who knows?"

But it could all have been so different had England not suffered that last-gasp 2-1 defeat against the French.

Neville said: "We were kicking ourselves on Thursday night, knowing that if we had beaten France some of us would have had our feet up on Monday.

"The manager could have afforded to rest a few of us.

"But all we can do is deal with what's in front of us and I just can't wait for Croatia — and I think we'll be OK."