Dele Alli eager to take on Croatia's Modric

"As an attacking player, you do get frustrated but I knew it would come".

You may well have switched on your TV set at the weekend expecting an exciting game of footy between England and Sweden - which indeed it was. "It's [meant so] much to me and the whole team!"

Rewind six months from that match against the Bantams and Alli was announcing himself as one to watch with a confident performance in a shock League Cup win for MK Dons over Louis van Gaal's Manchester United.

"They had (James) Hanson up front, they were very aggressive and it wasn't a nice day".

England's most capped player Peter Shilton believes Gareth Southgate's grounded approach will stand the Three Lions in good stead for their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years.

"Me and Danny Welbeck have a joke about it because I asked him for his shirt", Alli laughed. "We speak about it now. I'm not going to focus on that, though!"

"I think France and Belgium have proven to be really good sides".

While watching this titanic struggle between two European footballing superpowers you may also have thought to yourself: "Praise the heavens, I'm finally able to enjoy a piece of entertainment which isn't infected by that accursed Fortnite video game that every fool and their auntie is chattering on about".

"You want to be playing the top teams and test yourself", said Alli. "Nobody wants to miss the birth of their child, so to see that and then to get back and be involved in such a fantastic game and go through to the semifinals is unbelievable. I wasn't going to give him mine, I just wanted his".

"It is a big statement [from Pochettino]", said Alli. I think he knows me as a person and he knows I wouldn't get carried away with it or think too much into it.

"It wasn't nerves. I said to my family afterwards it was weird because I didn't feel nervous, or anything like that". I helped the side like I always do and won the ball back as much as I could.

Alli and his team-mates could return to England as legends, but first he needs to add to his score of personal triumphs over Modric.

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