QAT’S OUT THE BAG
Much like the beer, talk of Auld Enemy winning this thing was banned... until now
SCOTLAND: How can this grotesque, sports washing charade become any more of an ordeal? England: Hold my Bud Zero.
OK, granted things are finally picking up a bit of pace in Qatar now the sterile slog of the group stage has come to an end.
And yes, for as long as little Lionel Messi is lighting up the stage with his humongous bag of magic tricks then the greatest fairytale of all will remain a real-life possibility.
But now there’s a real danger it could become the stuff of all our worst nightmares if England can find a way through the French on Saturday night.
God’s hand, Gazza’s tears, Rossi’s hat-trick, Ronaldo’s haircut, Archie Gemmill, van Persie’s header, Diego’s tell-tale bulging eyes – the World Cup is the competition that has always kept on giving.
But, up until these last few days of knock-out drama, this one was summed up in five words – nil, nil at half-time.
And after what happened last night inside the Al Bayt Stadium – when 0-0 at the interval seemed an excellent idea – we must now begin to confront an awkward truth.
England could actually win this thing, you know.
While some of the game’s greats might have dragged their egos to the Gulf to die a slow lingering death in the desert, Gareth Southagte and his squad have been blossoming in it and threatening to come of age.
And the manner in which they booked their place in the quarter-finals suggests we had better start getting our heads around the unthinkable.
Bad enough Sadio Mane wasn’t fit to lead Senegal’s attacking line into the last 16.
But even without their stricken talisman, they went after Southgate’s side like lions released from a den. And for more than half an hour they were playing them off the pitch.
If England had expected a cagey contest then they were disabused of that notion in the opening seconds as green shirts surged forward, pressing high and with a ferocious intensity.
Just four minutes in, Boulaye Dia nearly bulldozed his way through on goal having muscled a path between John Stones and Harry Maguire and into England’s penalty area.
Maguire managed to flick out a toe before Dia was on top of Jordan Pickford and the danger snuffed out. But Senegal’s intentions had been posted.
The England stopper seemed rattled and when Maguire carelessly gave the ball away they managed another great escape.
This time Dia flung himself towards a cross ball and even though the striker didn’t connect with it cleanly
Watford’s Ismaila Sarr came rushing in to blaze over the bar.
With this aggressive approach came gaping spaces to be exploited at the other end. If only England were savvy enough to find them. This strangely sluggish England were made to look even more lethargic by the energy of their opponents.
And they had to rely on Pickford to bail them out before the break when the Everton keeper clawed out Dia’s thumping effort at close range after Bukayo Saka generously gifted another stray ball straight into Sarr’s rampaging path.
But just when it seemed the breakthrough goal was only a matter of time away it arrived unexpectedly at the other end of the pitch. For the first time, in 38 minutes, England clicked into gear with Harry Kane dropping deep before sending Jude Bellingham in behind Senegal’s swing door defence with one-neatly measured pass into a yawning chasm.
The Dortmund prodigy looked up to see Jordan Henderson steaming into the penalty box.
Bellingham’s cross was perfect, Henderson’s finish crisp – and Senegal were in a heap of trouble.
It got worse in the third minute of injury time when Bellingham set off on another raid. This time he found Phil Foden who, in turn, played a first time pass into Kane to send the skipper clean through.
His thumping finish smashed through Edouard Mendy – and England had planted one foot in the quarters. In 57 minutes the game was beyond Senegal when Kane released Foden down the left and the Manchester City maverick picked out Saka for a deftly finished dink of a third. Foden and Saka were given the rest of the night off, replaced by Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish. By now English belief was soaring to familiar and nauseatingly giddy levels. But the difference this time, is they might have the talent pool deep enough to back it up. So England expects and Scotland holds its breath. Still, at least there’s Kylian Mbappe.