Vulnerable England set to extend 50 yrs of hurt
Three Lions bank on Kane golden boot at Euros
LONDON, May 25, (RTRS): When England fans sang about “30 years of hurt” at Euro ‘96 they had high hopes of ending the pain with a first trophy since the 1966 World Cup but 20 years on from that agonising near miss there is precious little optimism in the air.
To a buoyant chart-topping Three Lions soundtrack of “football’s coming home” England came within the width of Paul Gascoigne’s bootlace of securing a place in the Euro ‘96 final on home soil.
The midfielder’s extra-time, opengoal miss against Germany led to penalties, which England lost, just as they did in their only other semi-final appearance since 1966 at the 1990 World Cup.
Since then England have been serially unsuccessful despite the virtually biennial routine of excitable build-up followed by dispiriting exit.
That see-saw frustration was summed up in the space of four days by England’s two most recent friendlies in March.
Having reached the Euro 2016 finals by winning all 10 qualifiers, scoring 31 goals and conceding three, England put the icing on the cake with an uplifting 3-2 away win over world champions Germany.
However, with predictions of glory still filling the back pages, a flat performance and 2-1 Wembley defeat by a Dutch team who did not even make the Euros brought everyone down to earth.
England’s defender Kyle Walker (left), vies with Turkey’s midfielder Yasin Oztekin during the friendly football match between England and Turkey at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England on May 22. (AFP)
Ironically, as England have gradually adopted a more continental style of play, and can now keep the ball and build patient attacks with the best of them, their traditional strengths have been left behind.
Since John Terry left the scene England have looked horribly vulnerable in the centre of defence and, having been bundled out of the 2014 World Cup group stage on the back of the most basic errors in that department, they were caught out in both friendlies in exactly the same way.
Manager Roy Hodgson is taking John Stones, Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill to France and mobile opposition attackers must be licking their lips in anticipation.
The coach is better served elsewhere, with the emergence of Tottenham Hotspur duo Dele Alli and Eric Dier adding panache and bite to a midfield where Wayne Rooney is also likely to feature to give the side experience and leadership. hurt counter clicking round to 52 years.
Tottenham Hotspur fans love to serenade local lad Kane with the chant “He’s One of Our Own” but the whole of England will be singing his name if his rich scoring streak takes his country deep into Euro 2016.
Kane has emerged as his country’s most natural goalscorer since Alan Shearer and scooped the Premier League’s Golden Boot prize this season with 25 goals, the first English striker to lead the charts for 16 years.
He scored one more than Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and while Vardy has bagged a Premier League winners’ medal, Kane is most likely to lead England’s attack when they kick off against Russia on June 11. His rise has been meteoric. Two years ago his future at Tottenham looked uncertain after a series of loan spells, including one at Leicester.
However, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino’s faith was rewarded last season when Kane established himself in the first team and scored 21 league goals.
After a sluggish start to this season, he took his game to a new level, scoring 25. He now has 49 goals in 81 league games.
Kane marked his England debut last year with a goal 80 seconds after coming on against Lithuania and has five goals in 11 appearances for his country.
Born close to former England captain David Beckham and former England and Tottenham forward Teddy Sheringham, he also shares some of their attributes.
While lacking the straight-line speed of Vardy, like Sheringham he is adept at locating space, linking the play and, above all, shooting with deadly accuracy.
Like Beckham, his work rate is exemplary and he boasts vision and ability from dead-ball situations.