England, Belgium aim to exit World Cup on a winning note

ST PETERSBURG, July 13 (Reuters): Belgium and England have already met during the World Cup in a match both teams seemed reluctant to win and on Saturday they will face each other again in a game they both seem reluctant to play.

The two sides must pick themselves up and dust themselves down after suffering the crushing disappointment of semi-final defeats to play for the modest prize of third place in a fixture often criticised as pointless.

"It's not a game any team wants to play," said England manager Gareth Southgate after his team lost 2-1 to Croatia after extra time in Wednesday's second semi-final.

"Of course, we want to win, we'll be ready to go again because the team take great pride in their performances. It's a bit too early after that defeat to think about it."

His Belgian counterpart Roberto Martinez was similarly unenthused about the game after his side were beaten 1-0 by France on Tuesday.

"Its a difficult emotion to manage. You're disappointed because you lose the semi-final, and its very difficult to see the opportunity of playing another game as a positive," he said. Even so, he said he would try to lift his team.

We need to regroup and recover and see the opportunity. To try to finish third in the World Cup doesn't happen often. The only time it happened in Belgian football was in 1986, when we finished fourth."