“WHEN I SIGNED FOR ARSENAL, WE MET AT MCDONALD’S – I THOUGHT I’D BETTER NOT ORDER A BIG MAC!”

England came close to reaching the World Cup final. Do you think it’s only a matter of time before they win something?

I do. We host the Euros in 2021, and Great Britain will have a team at the Olympics in Tokyo next year. We are close now. Previously when we were going to big tournaments, we were looking at the quarter finals, or wouldn’t a semi-final be amazing. Now we’re third in the world, and the team are more than capable.

You were in the team that reached the Euro 2009 Final. How big an achievement was it?

At that time, no one expected us to get to the final. We actually lost our first group game and finished third in the