Class of 2018 can be the one to break cycle of knockout torment
England’s form at sharp end of tournaments is dire but history need not weigh on this squad
CHIEF SPORTS WRITER in Kaliningrad
Afixation with the knockout games England have won since 1966 ignores the ones they have lost. Over those 52 years, they have scored six wins over mid-ranking countries but been custard-pied by most of the superpowers.
Colombia are not one of those – so the “curse” becomes less menacing. Without examining the pattern, evaluating England’s chances at Moscow’s Spartak Stadium on Tuesday is mere superstition. The victories are as follows:
1986 World Cup: 3-0 v Paraguay 1990 World Cup: 1-0 v Belgium (AET) and 3-2 v Cameroon (AET) Euro ’96: 0-0 v Spain (4-2 on pens) 2002 World Cup: 3-0 v Denmark 2006 World Cup: 1-0 v Ecuador
On that list, you will see no previous World-cup winner. So, not only have England failed to reach any tournament final since 1966, they have no major knockout triumph to protect them against fatalism.
The picture makes sense only when you recite the defeats:
Euro 2016: Iceland Euro 2012: Italy
2010 World Cup: Germany 2006 World Cup: Portugal Euro 2004: Portugal 2002 World Cup: Brazil 1998 World Cup: Argentina Euro 96: Germany
Iceland was England’s indisputable nadir since Euro 96, because they were the first minor or emerging nation to remove them at a knockout stage (groupphase exits are another discussion). Until then, England had been saddled with an obvious inferiority to the countries who tend to go on and win trophies. In other words, once they met a top team, home they would go. The Iceland debacle in Nice two years ago announced a new low in which England were capable of being banjoed by countries with 300,000 citizens.
This is the rock bottom Gareth Southgate has charted a course up from so intelligently. As a participant in some of the big let-downs, Southgate has torn up old formulas and endeavoured to take England into the mainstream of international football, with passing, enterprise and movement to the fore.
The spirit winces to recall earlier England teams playing in banks of four, knocking the ball long or losing on penalties: in part, because their dead-ball technique was plainly less sophisticated.
So, the full record is: 17 knockout games played at major tournaments, six wins and 11 defeats, six of which were from penalty shoot-outs. And no England manager has won two knockout games in a row since Bobby Robson in Italy in 1990.
Southgate does not want this baggage; nor should he have to cart it round Russia. These are new players in a new age. But the pattern of dead ends in knockout football is bound to haunt English dreams. Southgate, of course, says these players can be the ones to break the cycle.
“It’s exciting. We’ve got the chance to be the team that changes that,” the England manager says. “It’s one of the reasons why we’ve done what we did [resting players against Belgium], to give ourselves the best opportunity of doing that.
“For me, it’s going to be a brilliant game to be involved in. It looked like Colombia had 30,00040,000 fans in the stadium. They have some top players, some top attacking players in particular. But we also have some really good players who are full of belief and looking forward to this challenge.”
The new England take a more scientific approach to player freshness, game management and psychological outlook. There is, though, still no definitive study into the wins and losses since 1966 – no empirical search for common causes.
Southgate has better things to do in Russia than be a historian to former, thwarted England sides. His only job is winning the game in front of him. He says: “There are many different reasons [for England’s poor record], but you’re playing against the best players in the world. We’ve at times had a squad with top players and at times we’ve had a squad with not such outstanding players who’ve been in those knockout situations.
“There have been many different reasons for not getting over the line. Some disciplinary, some have been penalty shootouts. But more often than not, we have not been able to win those matches in normal time or in extra time. So, loads of different reasons, but the main one being the opposition’s level is the very best. They pose you different technical and tactical challenges.”
If history is any guide, though, it brightens the picture for England.
Iceland aside, their problem has been beating the world’s best six or seven countries – not defeating teams of comparable standard. Colombia would fall into that latter bracket, so history is not England’s enemy. Not yet. A Gary Lineker double puts a smile on manager Bobby Robson’s face Lineker at the double again – two penalties – in a quarter-final win