Gareth Southgate did the right thing against Belgium - but England must now rediscover their focus

In his latest column for The Independent, former Netherlands captain Frank de Boer dissects Southgate's decision to rest his first-team players in the final game of Group G

I watched the England vs Belgium game and of course it was a really strange situation. Having two teams with the same points, same goal difference, and just two yellow cards between them, and where it felt as if both teams wanted to lose.

And I really can understand why Gareth Southgate and Roberto Martinez did what they did. I think it was a good decision to leave those players out. Because of fatigue. Because of yellow cards. And because of how important travelling distances are in the knock-out rounds. Yes, it was a gamble, but maybe it will be good for England that they did lose. And despite that strange game, I have still been impressed by those two teams, and their approach, in the World Cup so far.

Belgium have made a very good impression, they have quality, a strong bench, and they have speed. And England, they look like they have so much fun together, with their unbelievable energy. I also like Croatia, who look really focused, and have Luka Modric, who is the best midfielder of his generation.

But the big question for England and Belgium going into their last-16 games this weekend, is whether they can recover their focus for their next match. We have spoken about this in this column before, the importance of focus, belief and mentality to win a World Cup. You have to stay in the zone.

So this week, after resting all the top players for the third game, could be a real trigger point for those two teams. Will they recover their focus for the next game?

Normally in a World Cup you are playing a game every four or five days. You get into a real rhythm, preparing for a game, playing it, then preparing for the next one. Now, suddenly, the top players must go more than a week without a game. England have nine days between the Panama game and the last-16 against Colombia.

So those players, Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and the others, they don’t have the mental tension and the physical tension of playing every few days. And suddenly they have to get used to another rhythm, because they did not play against Belgium. Now they have to start up their engines again.

And there is another kind of tension in the knock-out rounds. Knowing that one bad game will mean that you are out of the tournament. But I think that the best players play their best in the highest tension games. They are not worried. If anything, they are even more focused.

Kane will be itching to get back out on the pitch (Getty Images)

One of the biggest tests of their focus, and how they manage tension, will come if a game goes to penalties.

I will always remember the penalty shoot-out against Brazil in the semi-final of France ‘98. I took our first penalty, and scored, but we still lost the shoot-out and were eliminated.

The key for me to score was to stay in that zone of focus. I was always convinced that I would score that penalty. I just wanted to pick one corner and shoot there. And that was exactly how it happened.

Holland were knocked out of the World Cup in a penalty shoot-out in 1998 (Bob Thomas Sports Photography)

Two years later, when we played Italy in the semi-finals of Euro 2000, I missed two penalties! One in normal time, the other at the start of the shoot-out. It was because I changed my corner. Normally, I always put them in the other corner, and with the right speed, and the right height, the goalkeeper can never stop it. But that night, suddenly I changed I changed it. And I still don’t know why.

So I would say to players, stay in the zone of focus. If you are thinking of suddenly changing, in your walk to the spot, that is the worst time. Just think about your corner. Don’t be distracted by other things. Don’t change. 50 yards away, 30 yards away, just think about your corner. Don’t think about anything else.

Messi's strike has been compared to the great Bergkamp goal (Getty Images)

Looking back on that shoot-out in 1998, I don’t think we prepared enough as a team. In that moment, we could have done better. Really gone with our mentality. Decided what we are going to do if we had the responsibility to take one. Instead of just going and suddenly deciding ‘ok, this is the corner for me’. We didn’t prepare enough to win. And for me it was even harder, because my brother Ronald missed one!

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I saw Lionel Messi’s brilliant goal against Nigeria on Tuesday night, and I have been asked to compare it with the famous Dennis Bergkamp goal against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, that came from my pass. I can see there is a similarity in the control. What Dennis did with his feet, Messi did with his knee, the beautiful control after the fantastic pass.

Of course people still talk to me about that goal, it was one of the most beautiful goals in Dutch football history. But it wasn’t a coincidence! I made that kind of pass so many times, to Dennis, but also to Patrick Kluivert or Jari Litmanen. I set up so many similar chances for Dennis over the years. Yes, for me, that was a perfect moment. To give that pass from centre-back, in the quarter-final of a World Cup. So of course everyone talks about it. But for me personally, I don’t think about it much.