Southgate’s boys have opportunity finally to banish 52 years of hurt
RUSSIA, Winston Churchill once famously opined, is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
As world football prepares to head behind the old Iron Curtain this summer for the biggest show on earth, this description can perhaps be extended to the England national team. Or at least the Three Lions’ inability to punch even close to their footballing weight at major tournaments for much of the past 50 years.
England has certainly had the talent, be it the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ in the Noughties or the years when Kevin Keegan, Bryan Robson, Peter Shilton and Glenn Hoddle were in their pomp. Turning that talent into success, however, has proved beyond a succession of managers, whether reared at home or imported at great expense from abroad.
No doubt a similar inquest as to why England teams struggle so badly at major tournaments will be conducted in either late June or early July, as fans ask why even the presence of Harry Kane – Europe’s deadliest striker in 2017, let’s not forget – could not lift the national team.
Finding an answer, as in those other post-mortems into where it all went wrong, will surely test even the greatest of football minds. Nothing, other than perhaps having to shoulder burden that accompanies 52 years of hurt is simply too much for our footballers, truly makes sense.
Not when limited sides such as Greece in 2004 and, to a lesser extent, Denmark a dozen years earlier have tasted glory in the European Championships as England were making their customary early exit home.
Will this summer be any different? Unlikely. Sure, the draw is kind with Diego Maradona doing Gareth Southgate a big favour by ushering England into a group featuring Panama, Tunisia and Belgium. The scheduling is also a big help with the tournament being five days old by the time England take to the field against Tunisia in Volgograd, meaning any early problems for teams such as the ball behaving unusually in flight or an unexpected refereeing clampdown are likely to have been ironed out.
Facing Belgium last should also aid Southgate and his young squad, as chances are the clash on the Baltic coast in Kaliningrad will effectively be the group decider with Panama and Tunisia having already fallen by the wayside. Or at least that is the theory, anyway.
In reality, the opposition in Group H are just the sort to strike fear into English hearts. Belgium’s quality is on show in the Premier League every weekend and Roberto Martinez, for all the defensive faults of his Wigan Athletic and Everton sides, looks to have hit upon a winning formula. Expect the Belgians to top the group.
Tunisia and debutants Panama are, of course, the sort of sides that any nation with a decent pedigree should not lay awake at nights worrying about. But this is England and it isn’t just the memory of the debacle against Iceland in Euro 2016 that will have to be banished before June.
Costa Rica in 2014, Ecuador in 2006 and even Morocco in the 1986 finals that eventually saw the ‘Hand of God’ needed to stop Bobby Robson’s side in their tracks all match the e-fit of the unfancied, durable and organised opponents that have proved to be England’s nemesis in the past.
Possessing a strong mentality will be key, as will matching the willpower of minnows who know this represents a once-ina-lifetime opportunity to carve their name into footballing folklore back home. Encouragingly, Southgate has spoken of the need to avoid complacency several times since the draw was made at the start of last month.
Providing the England players follow their manager’s lead and successfully negotiate Group G, one from Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan will then await his side in the second round.
Again, a potentially big helping hand for a country that has beaten just one football ‘superpower’ in the knockout stages of a tournament since 1966 – and even then, it took penalties, a huge slice of luck and home advantage in Euro ’96 to see off a Spain outfit that was light years away from the all-conquering team of later years.
As helpful, however, as the draw or the relative lack of travelling time between venues in such a vast country as Russia, England’s fate next summer will be decided by the players at Southgate’s disposal and, in that respect, there is hope.
Kane clearly stands out in an attacking sense but there is also the vastly-improved Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Dele Alli to worry opposition defences.
Adam Lallana, too, possesses the ‘X’ factor that can go a long way in international football, while at the back John Stones and Kyle Walker – buoyed by a successful season with championselect Manchester City – should be able to prosper among the elite.
If England flop again, the mystery will deepen as to why talented players just can not deliver on the biggest stage of all.
Possessing a strong mentality will be key in Russia. Richard Sutcliffe assessing England’s World Cup prospects.