Southgate admits WC journey helped lay ghost of Euro 96 penalty miss to rest

Gareth Southgate has admitted England's summer success story - which saw them reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia - helped heal the wounds of his penalty shooutout miss against Germany at Euro 1996.

Southgate steered England to their best performance at a World Cup in 28 years in the summer, recapturing the imagination of the fans and reconnecting them with the national side in the process.

England also laid the ghost of penalties to rest by claiming their first ever shootout victory at the World Cup by beating Colombia on route to the semi-finals.

Southgate was determined to make sure his team would not fall into the same trap he did in the semi final of Euro 96 and admits that having to go through that harrowing ordeal made this summer's journey that bit sweeter for him on a personal level.

'Nobody can know what that feels like. You are embarrassed. Now people are very complimentary for this summer,' he told adventurer Bear Grylls.

'People used to poke their heads out of vans and shout things at me in the street. I had a 20-year playing career but I was really only ever remembered for that one moment. That's what made this summer even better because I felt like I had a debt to pay.'

Much of this summer's success was down to Southgate's persistent exhortations to his players to be brave and he had to put his money where he was mouth was as Bear Grylls took him into the wilds of Dartmoor to teach him survival skills during the latest episode of the ITV programme.

During an interval in the show, Southgate also outlined his ambitious plan for his young England squad, who have continued to take strides forward under the 48-year-old's guidance since the World Cup.

He added: 'We want to go and win the Euros. We want to be the No 1 team in the world and there's no reason why we can't go and do that.'