Brave and unbowed... sad England crash out of World Cup
Millions suffer rollercoaster of emotions as England miss out on final
ENGLISH dreams of winning the World Cup for the first time in more than half a century were shattered last night after the team crashed out in the semi-final.
Gareth Southgate’s men lost 2-1 to Croatia in a thrilling showdown in Moscow watched on TV by almost half the UK population.
They were bidding to reach their first final since 1966 and had been widely tipped to see off the Croatians.
But instead of playing France in the final they will now face Belgium in the third-place play-off after throwing away the lead and missing a string of chances.
Last night’s defeat against a talented and ultimately dominant Croatia side ends a remarkable run for the England squad – their most successful since Italia 1990 when the side lost in the semi-final to West Germany in a penalty shoot-out.
On that occasion support for the English campaign had been at best sparse north
‘It has been a fantastic journey’
of the Border. But many of the voices roaring the team on last night from bar stools and living room sofas were Scottish.
Most of the team captained by Harry Kane were not even born when England last went so far in the competition. Their knowledge of the only time their country has won the World Cup, meanwhile, comes from grainy black and white TV footage.
So there was no hiding the bitter disappointment from the England captain last night when he stood in front of the cameras after the match to profess in true footballer fashion: ‘We’re gutted.’
Kane, who missed a glorious chance to make it 2-0 in the first half, added: ‘We worked so hard. The fans were amazing but it was a 50-50 game. We worked as hard as we could. It hurts a lot and it’s going to hurt for a while, but it has been a fantastic journey.’
Struggling to keep his emotions in check, Kane tried to mask the pain with a rallying call for England’s young team to learn from their World Cup heartache and ‘go one further’.
But he admitted it was a missed opportunity to head for Sunday’s final for a team who had seen the draw open up in front of them.
He said: ‘We can hold our heads up high – we have gone further than a lot of people thought we would. It has been great to get this stage and we know we have done everyone proud but we wanted to win. It hurts, it just hurts.
‘It shows we can be up here, that we can win knockout games, can get to semi-finals and the next step is to go one step further. This is a great foundation we have built with the gaffer, we are proud of what we have achieved but we wanted more and are sad we couldn’t give our fans a final.’
Manager Gareth Southgate, who has somehow made waistcoats a football fan accessory, has enhanced his reputation.
A galvanising figure in the previously fractured English dressing room, Southgate last night managed to stay dignified in defeat.
He said: ‘The biggest thing is our supporters at the end, and their reaction. That tells you what the players have given. I can’t ask any more.
‘Knockout football is fine margins. When you have spells, you have to make them count; we probably needed that second goal.
‘We’ve come an incredibly long way in a short space of time.’
England’s 4-2 win against West Germany in the final at Wembley in 1966 became so frequently referenced by English commentators that it ushered in decades of ‘Anyone but England’ sentiment among Scottish football fans.
But last night, as England fans wiped away tears of disappointment, there were clear signs of a softening of attitudes north of the Border towards the Auld Enemy.
In pubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow there was no shortage of Croatian flags waving. But many Scots were cheering for their neighbours and traditional arch rivals, too. More than a million Scottish viewers are thought to have followed England’s fortunes on television last night – a huge figure even for a Scotland international.
The semi-final was England’s sixth match of the World Cup campaign following victories against Tunisia, Panama, Colombia and Sweden. The team’s only defeat before last night was against Belgium in the final game of the group stage.
As the competition progressed, more and more Scots had quietly admitted they did not have a problem with England doing well.
Among them was former Rangers
and Scotland striker Ally McCoist, who revealed on air he had been cheering for England as they saw off Sweden at the weekend.
‘I’m not ashamed to admit it,’ the pundit told ITV viewers.
Pat Nevin, also a former Scotland player, admitted he was ‘quite happy’ for England to do well.
Southgate’s men had won many admirers well beyond England’s borders for the team’s comradeship and sense of humility. In contrast with the prima donnas of previous World Cup campaigns, the crop of 2018 was younger with less arrogance. Simply, they rubbed fewer Scots up the wrong way.
‘Things have definitely changed,’ said football commentator Archie Macpherson last night. ‘There is less bombast. It also comes from the familiarity a younger generation has with English football. If you go round in Scotland you will more likely see English club jerseys than you will even the Old Firm. That indicates the adults are watching English football with more interest and I think that’s one of the factors.’