Kyle Walker has urged his England team-mates to seize "the best opportunity" the country may ever have to reach a World Cup final when they face Croatia in Moscow on Wednesday night.
England are due to travel down from their base in Repino to Moscow on Tuesday ahead of the game against a Croatia side who are ranked eight places below them in the FIFA rankings, 20th rather than 12th. Croatia needed extra-time and penalties to beat Russia in the quarter-final and Denmark in the round of 16, raising questions about whether they would be able to cope with extra-time and penalties if it comes to it on Wednesday.
Speaking to IRN radio from Repino this afternoon, Walker told his England teammates that the draw may never be this generous to them again. England have already benefited from the fact that Sweden, rather than Germany, won Group F, and that Spain lost to Russia on penalties in the last-16.
"It's a great opportunity," Walker said. "I think we all know that. I think it's the best opportunity that England has ever had, and probably might ever have, because no disrespect to Croatia, but the other side of the group was a lot more difficult."
Walker acknowledged the threat of Luka Modric, his former Tottenham teammate, but said that he wants England to take the game to Croatia and ride the positive feeling from the Colombia game.
"They have got some fantastic players - I've played with Luka and for me he is one of the best midfielders in the world by far," Walker added. "We have to adapt ourselves to their game plan, but also they have to worry about us. We've played well, we've played well in the games. I think we've showed immense character. So we have shown character, we've shown belief and I think that's what is going to get us over the line in this game."
Walker also hopes to maintain the good vibes from his Premier League title triumph with Manchester City. "I have to dream, I have to dream big," he said. "I said before when I signed for Manchester City, my dream was to lift the Premier League title and I did that. For my country, my dream is to lift the World Cup, so the dream is still happening now. I just hope it can continue."
