Win or lose in the World Cup, England has a national hero in Coach Gareth Southgate

Alexander Nemenov AFP/Getty Images <caption> England's coach Gareth Southgate celebrates after winning the quarter-final match against Sweden on July 7. </caption>

LONDON — England is playing a tough Croatian team in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday. But, win or lose, Brits have found everything they need right now in coach Gareth Southgate.

The country is a serious swoon. It’s got an over-the-top crush. The 47-year-old in the natty waistcoat is the prodigal son, the underestimated man, whose story of redemption has inspired a nation.

The Telelgraph newspaper on Wednesday in a headline compared Southgate to Winston Churchill. Seriously. 

Before the tournament began, few thought England would play this well. Remember, the team hasn’t won a World Cup since 1966. Most fans believe England’s improbable rise never would have happened without Southgate. He’s taken young players to the brink of greatness.

Southgate is football. But he is bigger than football.

Britain has been going through a rough patch. Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership is on shaky ground. Her government ministers at war amongst themselves over how to make the break from the European Union. Add to that attacks with Soviet-era nerve agents out in the countryside and huge demos planned to greet President Trump on Friday.

Southgate offers hope that everyone will be able to get through it.

“Our country has been through some difficult moments recently in terms of its unity,” Southgate said. “But sport can unite.”

Of many stirring moments, there’s one that catches the British throat. It came after England beat Colombia in penalty kicks.

As the fans went bonkers with the win, Southgate sought out the Colombian player whose miss had given England its victory. As Mateus Uribe covered his face in shame and disappointment, and wept, Southgate put his arms round him in consolation.

Carl Recine

Reuters

England manager Gareth Southgate and Colombia coach Jose Pekerman with Colombia's Mateus Uribe after the penalty shootout on July 3.

The gesture was lost on no serious fan. For famously, in the 1996 European Championship played in Wembley Stadium in London, it was Southgate who missed the crunch penalty kick that gave Germany the semi-final match and then the title.

“I was the person who had ended a nation’s dream,” Southgate wrote in a memoir. “I knew this would be a major issue for the rest of my life.”

Now life had come full circle. The English manager hugged it out.

“He showed a nation how to behave,” wrote John Crace in the Guardian.

In Britain, parents used the embrace to teach their children about sportsmanship and empathy.

“His arm round Uribe’s shoulder wasn’t a casual, passing gesture, it was one that spoke of a deep personal understanding,” Crace believed. “It was a moment of grace.”

He is the New British Man. In a country that virtually invented soccer hooliganism, and gave rise to the millionaire Premier League rock star, Southgate during his own career was the quietly competent second-stringer, no drama, all work ethic.

He exudes solid. Married, two kids. He calls his team family. He told the lads, “write your own stories.”

During the middle of the tournament, Southgate insisted that his player Fabian Delph to return home for the birth of his child. The player missed the win against Colombia, but got back in time to come onto the field in quarter-final victory against Sweden.

Delph told reporters that England’s nail-biting penalty-kick shoot-out induced his wife’s labor.

Oliver Holt in the Daily Mail said Southgate’s performance at this summer’s World Cup in Russia “has changed perceptions of himself and of English football.”

“His victory is a victory over the fears and doubts that have haunted us and our national side for a generation,” Holt wrote. “For 20 years, we paid lip service to the idea that we believed in ourselves without quite meaning it. Now we believe it.”

These sports writers aren’t just writing about a game.

The chief football writer at Daily Mirror, John Cross, tweeted, “Front pages... country divided, falling apart. Back pages... country unifying, building bridges. Simple solution: after the World Cup, make Gareth Southgate Prime Minister.”

Facundo Arrizabalaga

Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock

England's manager Gareth Southgate stands with the team for their national anthem at the quarter final match on July 7.

The columnist Michael Deacon said in the Telegraph that Southgate could win as a centrist Emmanuel Macron of Britain: “Admittedly we don’t know anything about his actual politics, but to be honest I don’t think we need to, because everything about him screams ‘sensible middle-ground.’ All right, maybe not ‘screams.’ More like ‘murmurs thoughtfully, with a concerned-looking frown.’”

Southgate is huge on social media. On Wednesday, fans were uploading pictures of themselves in Southgate-style vests for #WaistcoatWednesday.

“More nice-dad-at-a-wedding-disco than David Beckham,” the Guardian observed, “the England manager’s look has turned him into an unlikely star.”

Others were tweeting with the hashtag #GarethSouthgateWould and jokingly about the types of unselfish things he might do, such as “GarethSouthgateWould give you his seat on a bus even if he was 8 months pregnant.”

Stories have emerged in recent days about real-life encounters with the manager — not jaw-dropping anecdotes, but ones that collectively paint a picture of a man who is decent and generous, regardless of whether the cameras are around.

One fan posted a letter Southgate wrote him thanking him for his kind words after the European Championship in ’96. An east London girls soccer club recalled the time that Southgate was scheduled to spend 30 minutes with them, but instead stayed for three hours. 

“He is compassionate,” agreed Dell Young, 40, a fishmonger in southwest London. 

“He stands out a lot more than the others because he cares a bit more,” he said, as he spread ice over his fish to help keep it cool on a warm London day.

Ed Sykes

Action Images via Reuters

England fans with masks of manager Gareth Southgate celebrate outside Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol, England.

Emilia Campman, 22, arrived at a south London pub wearing an England t-shirt three hours before kick off Wednesday to get a good seat 

“He cares more about people than winning. He actually cares about the players about the team, whereas a lot of managers just care about winning.”

Sitting next to her at the pub, her friend, 20-year-old Molly Johnson, offered, “He brings such a good vibe to the team, to England, to everyone. Everyone is loving him right now. 

“Every time I hear him talk, he’s saying give it your best shot, Work hard, everything about him is positive. He’s the kind of person you want in charge”

Is she hopeful England win?

“It’s coming home,” she said.

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