How England finally found their mojo
Assistant Steve Holland reveals to Jason Burt the inside story of Three Lions’ triumph in World Cup showdown against Colombia
Moscow, July 3 2018. Colombia 1 England 1 after extra time. “We had spent so long preparing for this b----- penalty shoot-out,” Steve Holland recalls. “We had one pitch and one penalty area at the training ground in Russia and therefore three penalty spots. All three penalty spots had to be dug up, replaced and returfed during the World Cup. We absolutely battered them.”
This is the inside story of how England got back on track; how England got their mojo back. How they finally won a penalty shoot-out, won a knockout tie, how they reconnected with their supporters and refound their belief, and it is told through the eyes of Holland, England’s assistant manager, who works so closely with Gareth Southgate.
So much happened in Russia. So much progress was made. And it is best sensed through that “intense” night at the Spartak Stadium, transformed, it felt like, into a Colombian ground, because there were so many Colombia fans in a sea of baying, feverish yellow during the last-16 tie.
And it is best told by listening to what Holland has to say about it. “It’s the best way to win and the worst way to lose,” he says. “For 50 years, we had experienced the worst way to lose; finally we had experienced the best way to win.”
In a bruising, fierce game, England had taken the lead through a Harry Kane penalty in the 57th minute. “They [Colombia] were scuffing the penalty spot, being either side of the referee: it was like a scene from the Wild West,” Holland recalls. “Every trick in the book.”
England deserved to be ahead, were in control but inevitably Colombia responded. Changes were made – on came Eric Dier and Jamie Vardy – as England tried to see out the 90 minutes. Holland says they were tactical substitutions but adds: “We had a list from one to 23 of the batting order of every player to take penalties.”
Allan Russell, the strikers’ coach, had been given the responsibility of compiling the list. “So, we knew from one to 23 who we fancied,” Holland says. “Of that list, the two players we were bringing on were both in the top half a dozen places. So, we were making changes to hopefully secure the game, but in the back of our minds we were also thinking: ‘What if?’”
And, inevitably, “what if ” happened. “It was cruel. It’s hard to explain that feeling when that header goes in on 93 [minutes]. To say your heart bounces off the floor and re-slots into the appropriate position doesn’t really do it justice,” Holland explains.
After a brilliant save by Jordan Pickford, Colombia scored from the corner … 1-1. The final minute. “It’s extra time … the crowd were up. At that point we were playing in the middle of Medellin. The stadium was yellow,” Holland says. England struggled for the first half of extra time, but rallied. In the end it was Colombia who were “happier with the penalties than we were”.
“As soon as the whistle went, I handed the list to Gareth and the list was: Kane, Rashford, Vardy, Henderson, Trippier. They were the five,” Holland explains.
“Of those five, obviously Rashford and Vardy were two players who had come into the game.”
But there was a problem. “Vardy felt his groin and wasn’t comfortable, so rather than asking him to take a penalty when he wasn’t feeling good about his body, we made a change,” Holland says. “So, Vardy came out, Henderson went from four to three, Trippier went from five to four and Dier went from six to five. So, that was how we finished with the order. So, again, Dier was a player who had come on to the pitch. We had two players in the top five who were substitutes.
“The only other bit of debate was that Harry [Kane] had a penalty in the game. Harry is an experienced penalty-taker and he had three different penalties. So, we didn’t really interfere too much with Harry. He made the decision of which penalty he took. With some of the others, they weren’t as experienced and comfortable so we perfected one [type of ] penalty with them.
“So, actually, with those five penalties, we knew exactly where four were going: the one we didn’t was Harry. He had elected to lift the ball down the middle in normal time. In the penalty shoot-out, he went low to the keeper’s right. So, that’s the double jeopardy that was his decision, his ability. With the other four, they executed the penalties exactly as they had been practising them.”
Even Henderson – whose kick was saved?
“His penalty was every bit as good as one or two of the others,” Holland says. “It went more or less where he had been practising. It was in the corner, it wasn’t soft; maybe a touch higher than he’d practised, but only a touch.” Nevertheless, Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina saved.
How important was that list? “I don’t want to go into too much detail as it’s a competitive advantage,” Holland says. “But what I would say was: compiling the list was huge, because it gave us a reference and that reference affected choices with substitutions.
“The second aspect of that were roles and responsibilities of staff and players during that period, so there is a comfort from familiarity. Otherwise, you can have all sorts of scenarios, with the kit-man having a word with the goalkeeper; the whole thing can be … it needs structure. What do the players want and how are we providing that? Every aspect we had rehearsed. And everybody was very clear, not just on what to do but also on what not to do. Ultimately, you can plan and plan and plan. But when you have millions tuning in to watch and it’s going around the world, the player who puts the ball on the spot, you can never really feel that moment.”
England had, in fact, rehearsed penalties for eight months.
Before Dier’s decisive kick there was Pickford’s save. Russell and goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson had worked with him alone before the shoot-out. “Reminding him of the analysis work we had done on each of the [Colombia] kickers. In a shoot-out, you normally need your keeper to make at least one save if you’re going to win. Jordan managed to make that save,” Holland explains.
There was a moment, then, that lives with Holland and showed England had not only got their preparations right but had picked the right squad.
“I think selection is massive,” he says. “You take 23 men away and 11 play. So, 12 don’t play, so every time you pick a team, you have more unhappy faces than happy faces. That’s not to suggest the players were unhappy, by the way, it’s just that’s the same with any team. So, I think having the right characters to be part of the group is really significant. It was part of our criteria of selection.
“The image I have in my head is that when Eric Dier’s penalty goes in to win the shoot-out, Phil Jones and Gary Cahill are sprinting at high speed to Dier and they didn’t kick a ball in that game … that should not be underestimated. The whole game doesn’t work without the contribution of those guys.
“I think up to that point, although we’d been positive … it’s always in the back of players’ minds, and your mind, that there’s still a lot to lose here.
“We could still go home not having qualified, having not won a knockout game. Once we’d navigated that game, that feeling of: ‘Well, what’s the worst case?’ had more or less disappeared. And it was a case of: ‘Well, that’s done now. We’re unlikely to go home and get nailed’. It’s more a case of: ‘What can we achieve?’ A different kind of pressure … that was the moment where we could only win, really. The positive aspect of achievement was more influential than the fear of failure.”
Later, in a corridor inside the stadium, Holland contacted his three sons via FaceTime. “They were showing me images – there were people hanging out of cars, the fans were singing in the streets, waving flags. It was at those moments that you really got a sense of what was happening,” Holland says.
That continued when the squad finally returned to the team hotel in Repino, outside St Petersburg, at 4am. “We would be up at eight, nine o’clock anyway so it was just a case of grabbing a few hours before the next day started,” Holland says. “But on that night we did go and have a bite to eat. And there was a big screen and we had one of the sports news channels and they were just replaying scenes from up and down the country of the moment when the Eric Dier penalty went in.
‘It’s the best way to win and the worst way to lose. For 50 years we had dealt with the worst way to lose, but finally ...’
“That, for me, was the standout memory. From a professional perspective, you want your team to play well and be part of a team that is perceived as being a good team, a successful team. That’s the professional challenge. We were not happy at not winning [the World Cup]. We want to win. But, in reality, there is a bigger picture around it. When you see so many happy faces, the sense of responsibility really dawns on you.
“In some small way, you personally have been part of this team that has been able to provide this happiness for people. And without being too cheesy, that moment is frankly bigger than winning any football match, because it is about the happiness of so many.”