Nico O’Reilly feels England are unstoppable with character shown in Mexico win
The 1966 champions are just three wins away from joining Sir Alf Ramsey’s side in immortality.
Nico O’Reilly believes England will be an unstoppable World Cup force if they can replicate the character shown against Mexico.
Thomas Tuchel’s men produced a heroic performance to win Sunday’s highly-charged last-16 clash at the rocking Estadio Azteca, overcoming altitude, a red card and other obstacles on the way to a thrilling 3-2 win.
England’s reward is a quarter-final against Brazil’s conquerors Norway at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday and means the 1966 champions are just three wins away from joining Sir Alf Ramsey’s side in immortality.
Asked if there was one thing he could take from Mexico City to Miami, left-back O’Reilly said: “I think character. I think every single player within the team, the staff showed character.
“We were outnumbered, stuff was going against us and we dug into the very, very end. And I think if we continue to have this character, no one can stop us.”
O’Reilly was proud of the way England navigated the “craziest game” of his career, but the Manchester City talent is not getting carried away with reaching the quarter-finals.
“It’s special, very special,” he told Lions’ Den. “A great feeling but I think we haven’t really got time to be celebrating yet.
“We’ve got another tough game coming and obviously there’s still a few more games we played for the top eight places, but every team’s going to be tough and we need to be ready.”
England’s mindset will again be as important as their collective talent against Norway, with Tuchel’s key message after the Azteca triumph reflecting that.
“We’ve had this thing where he’s been saying ‘we’re in the grind’, like ‘this is the grind part’, and we’ve been pounding the rock and keep breaking teams down and breaking teams down,” O’Reilly said.
“But he said ‘this game we were the rock’ and they were after us but we managed to get the win, we managed to get over the line.
“I think it’s important in tournament football to be able to adapt and play like that.”
England’s ability to show different sides of their game has kept their World Cup dream alive heading into the penultimate weekend of the tournament.
It is a chance to create more special memories, with O’Reilly aware of the impact this summer is having on children up and down the country.
“Obviously they all look up to us and we want to make a good example and make the country proud,” he added.
“I think that’s our most important thing, just to show the love back to everyone that’s showing the love to us.
“The way we do it is by performing and getting the wins on the pitch.”