This triumph wasn’t down to sweat or hustle... England stunned the world with flair and beauty
IT WASN’T just the fact that England won another agegroup World Cup that lifted the heart and the spirits this weekend, but rather the way that they did it.
What beautiful, intelligent and joinedup football Steve Cooper’s young team played in India.
To beat Spain — the Under 17 champions of Europe — was one thing. To do so by scoring five goals and playing the kind of football men’s senior coach Gareth Southgate can only dream of was quite another.
If you didn’t get to see this game on Saturday afternoon then you must find a way to watch it. And don’t just watch the goals. Watch all of it, as it will be one of the most encouraging and uplifting football matches you will see all season.
Here, seemingly, was proof that all is not lost for English football, proof that all our talent has not been left in the foothills of a Premier League mountain where continental is king.
Our academies are working, it would appear, for this was not football from the traditional English school. This was not a victory carved out of physicality, sweat and hustle. No, this was a triumph built on the back of supreme technique, cleverness, courage and an understanding of how to pass the ball.
Spain were swept aside by England, who were the better team from the very first minute to the last. Somehow, Spain managed to take a 2-0 lead but that served only to make a game of it.
They were no match for England’s football, and who ever really thought we would say that?
Of course, this result doesn’t guarantee these boys anything. Not even immense talents like Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden, who stamped his personality and ability all over this game with some of the best football seen for many years by somebody in the white of England.
Indeed, this result asks some uncomfortable questions of our game.
If the England senior team are not playing football like this in 10 years’ time — and if players like Foden and young Fulham full back Steven Sessegnon are not playing in it — then something is very seriously wrong with our structure and our pathways.
But that is perhaps a debate for another time. When victories like this come along then it is better to savour them than to start looking for problems that may lie in wait further down the track.
England had lost to this Spain team (on penalties) when they met in the final of the Euros in May. So there was some history here, extra incentive if any were really needed.
And what was so alluring was the way that England started the game. It was 25 degrees in the stadium and the humidity was a cloying 70 per cent, so this was never going to be a night for chasing the opposition around. On the whole, that onerous task fell to the Spanish.
England actually could have scored in the very first minute. A one-two between Morgan GibbsWhite and Rhian Brewster resulted in a shot from the Wolves midfield player that the Spanish goalkeeper had to save. So there, from the outset, was a clear message of intent from England. This is the kind of football they intended to play. When Cooper’s boys had the ball they used it beautifully, creating angles and using the full width of the field. There was energy, vision and supreme confidence. There were no long kicks upfield or aimless balls into the channels. Nothing was done without a reason.
And when Spain had possession, England applied the kind of hightempo press of which Barcelona would have been proud. Spain’s two goals came out of nowhere. England were bossing the game when Sergio Gomez scored in the 10th minute and were still in charge when he scored again with a rifle-crack shot 21 minutes later.
At that stage it looked as though it might be one of those nights when an opponent’s greater street smarts would prove too much. Just over half an hour gone and Spain looked a shade more clinical.
But even had England lost, there would have been huge merit in their response. Two goals behind, their style of play never changed and when Liverpool’s Brewster headed in a cross just before half- time, the game was reset on a course from which it never threatened to deviate.
England’s equaliser came from Gibbs-White before two goals from Foden sandwiched a first international strike from Chelsea central defender Marc Guehi.
Of course, a 4-2 scoreline would have had a nice ring to it — think 1966 and all that — but in truth the final three-goal margin was more reflective of England’s dominance.
Foden was a marvel to watch all by himself. Such balance and dexterity are rare gifts and we can only hope Pep Guardiola can find a way to accommodate him in his City squad in coming seasons.
So England have won two World Cups in one calendar year. This one finished with them registering 25 shots in the final — one every three and a half minutes.
Forget the trophy for a moment. That statistic is tribute enough all by itself.