These kids have spirit of Italia 90

JERMAINE JENAS is backing a fearless young England side to bring back the spirit of Italia 90 – and put a smile on the face of the nation at the World Cup.

England have consistently underperformed on world football’s biggest stage since reaching the semi-finals in Italy 28 years ago.

A quarter-final appearance in 2002 and 2006 represents the high-water mark of an England side that has hardly been flooded with plaudits at recent tournaments.

A group exit in Brazil in 2014 marked a new low with failure to progress from the preliminaries for the first time since 1958.

Jenas himself was part of the England squad that was knocked out by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Germany 12 years ago.

Most of the current England side were still at secondary school when that exit was sealed.

Now Jenas believes that Gareth Southgate’s side can put their youthful verve to the best possible use in Russia.

“Italia 90 made me want to become a professional footballer,” Jenas said.

“We didn’t play that well and then, weirdly enough, got a lastminute goal against Belgium in the last 16.

“We should probably have been beaten by Cameroon in the quarter-finals and then in the semi-final against Germany we probably put on one of our best ever performances.

“We got there, we ground it out, we got to a World Cup semi-final and we got to a situation where we inspired a whole country.

“That legacy lived on with Euro 96. But I suppose we’re still waiting for the next great run.

“My generation never achieved it. We got to the quarter-finals in 2006 and went out to a very good Portugal side on penalties. “That seems to be the ongoing theme that we really need to rewrite this time. “I’m looking at the youth and spirit of what we’ve got and that kind of fearless element in our team. I think that might help us.”

Southgate has selected one of the youngest England squads to ever line-up at a World Cup.

He will look to continue the feelgood factor that began with success for young Lions sides at both the Under-20 and Under-17 World Cups in 2017.

And Jenas (right) believes that the England manager is the right man to get the maximum out of his young players in Russia.

Jenas insisted: “Gareth has spent a lot of time with the Under-21s and he knows what he has got beneath him.

“He gives them that belief and when they do reach the first team they don’t feel like outcasts, they feel like they’re a part of something. You can see that in the way they play. I think Gareth’s onto something, and it does fill you with confidence going forward.

“It’s the tournament side of things that catches us out every single time.

“We seem to have a mechanism within ourselves that doesn’t function when the lights come on. “You talk about Dele Alli, Harry Kane and the others. They had their audition at the Euros and it didn’t go well for them. “Whether that was down to management, to styles of coaching or whatever, I don’t know.

“But this is a special moment for them. I’m hoping that they react in the way that they’ve reacted in the league and that Gareth gets them playing with a bit of freedom.”