David Seaman has confidently backed England to cope with the 'outside pressure' to beat Norway and reach the World Cup semi-finals, as long as they 'go out and play' with a positive mindset. The former England goalkeeper spoke on The Inside Channel Podcast ahead of Saturday's clash in Miami.
England's path to the quarter-final
A ten-man England produced one of their great World Cup performances at the iconic Azteca to secure their spot in the final eight. Jude Bellingham netted twice and Harry Kane scored from the spot to dump out co-hosts Mexico. The Three Lions' ability to deal with the effects of altitude had dominated the conversation heading into the contest, and the loss of Jarell Quansah to a red card only increased the size of the task Thomas Tuchel's side faced in the Mexican capital. But Kane and Co. withstood a barrage of attacks in the closing stages to safely advance.
Norway's threat with Haaland
Erling Haaland has scored seven goals in the opening four matches of his debut World Cup, including a brace in Norway's stunning last-16 defeat of Brazil. Only Lionel Messi has outscored the Manchester City striker at this stage of the competition. One of England or Norway will face Argentina or Switzerland in the semi-finals.
Seaman's confidence in England
According to Seaman, capped 75 times by England, Tuchel's men have no reason to be concerned should they play to their full potential. Asked if he could now see England's path to the final, Seaman replied: 'Yeah, that's fair. When you look at it, you look at the Mexico game which, out of that and Norway, that's going to be the harder game and we dealt with that quite well.'
'The Norway game, there's a lot of expectation because we are better than Norway, there's no doubt about it, man to man, apart from striker-ish, but then we've got Harry Kane. Who would you rather choose there by the way? That's like choosing Dennis Bergkamp or Thierry Henry!'
Seaman is adamant England possess far more quality than Norway 'man for man' and hopes to see Tuchel's men enter the field with a will to win, rather than a fear of losing. He added: 'The expectation will be for us to win but the lads won't be thinking like that. That's an outside pressure that the lads can deal with in their way, they don't have to get involved in that, they have to go out and play. If we play our game and we play well, we win. It is [as simple as that], though, when you look at it man for man we're better.'
Praise for Pickford's performance
In England's previous clash, Seaman – who represented his country at two World Cups – was especially impressed with Jordan Pickford's 'fantastic' showing between the sticks. 'Honestly, I thought it was his best performance for England,' he said of the Everton shot-stopper. 'Not just his saves… his saves were great, they were executed perfectly, they weren't really hard saves, but the way he dominated his box is something I've not seen him do like that before especially under that pressure.'
'We all know Jordan, we know his style, but what he was doing against Mexico was so good. It's so great for the defence when he's coming out and punching it clear. He was getting a lot of distance on his punches as well. There was some times when he was outjumping Dan Burn and punching it away. It was a fantastic performance from him. It was a great display from the lads. The defensive display that they put out there was second to none.'
Match details
England's eagerly anticipated contest with Norway kicks off at 10pm BST on Saturday at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium. A semi-final clash against one of Argentina or Switzerland awaits the victor.
