London — England’s 1966 World Cup hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst says Gareth Southgate’s young team can match the achievement of Alf Ramsey’s men and go all the way in Russia. The 76-year-old — who scored a hat-trick in the final at Wembley against West Germany — told The Sun newspaper that Southgate had fostered an impressive spirit of togetherness in the squad. England play Croatia in the semifinal on Wednesday for the right to meet France or Belgium in Sunday’s final in Moscow. "Just like Sir Alf, Gareth has also stuck by his players and has a very clear way of playing," said Hurst. "Probably one big difference is that we had four genuine world-class players in Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves [who did not play in the final]. "This squad doesn’t have those type of players, they are all of a similar level. Maybe that’s because they are quite young and have their careers still in front of them." Hurst said Ramsey rightly gets most of the credit for creating a...
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