England finding form in Qatar
WHAT a performance from England this week, against Wales, winning 3-0 and with it securing their place in the last 16.
It was total possession in the first half and totally ruthless in the second half, a perfect night for the players and staff and a big relief for the fans.
There were so many good performances in the England team but a major factor, in my opinion, was the driving force in midfield of Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, and Jordan Henderson. Henderson in particular was immense, not just with his football ability but more with his voice and leadership.
We might be 4,241 miles from Qatar, but you could see and feel his determination and drive sat on the sofa. A few minutes into the game and the pitchside microphone picked up his voice, bellowing congratulations to Phil Foden for pressing and forcing a Welsh pass out of play, a great sight back home in Blighty.
It was a captain’s performance. Now, I haven’t - and have finally accepted that I won’t play in a football World Cup - but I have been a captain and half the battle is your voice. Pushing, nurturing, calming, demanding, whatever the team needs, you can affect a major percentage with your communication.
Yes, you feel the pressure and responsibility more, but with it also comes the pride and the understanding of what it means to your manager, to the staff and players and to the fans.
Henderson was like a man possessed. In fact, all of the England players were on the front foot, marshalled by the excellent but much maligned Harry Maguire and John Stones.
I was also delighted for Marcus Rashford, who is now the joint-top scorer in the World Cup. Did someone mention Golden Boot?
As usual, the players were backed by a huge numbers of England fans. You cannot fault that commitment to get to tournaments and show of patriotism, but there were definitely a few doubters after the USA game both in person and, inevitably, online.
We were heroes against Iran, a few days later, however, we drew against USA and Gareth Southgate’s head was suddenly on the block. A week in football is a long time, eh? In fact, 90 minutes is a long time, I will go one further and say 45 minutes is a long time!
Unfortunately, it seems a minority of fans in this country want their teams to do badly just so that they can moan at the result. It’s a weird mentality.
There is a term in Germany ‘Schadenfreude’ of which the definition is ‘delight in another’s misfortune.’ Maybe it’s a British trait as well, but aren’t we all a bit tired of seeing negative comments about the country’s celebrities, sportsmen and women and, in particular, its footballers?
It will never change, I know that, but we need a massive dose of perspective at times. For sure, have an opinion, but there is a line, and it doesn’t need to be crossed just for someone’s self-gratification.
What matters for anyone who steps above the parapet is your family, your focus, and your fight. The rest as they say is noise.
So, we face Senegal in the last 16.
A weekly look at the football scene with the former Plymouth Argyle favourite and Torquay United boss
Sadio Mane is out with injury and Everton’s Idrissa Gueye is suspended, but it’s still not an easy game, for sure.
They are the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations champions and are ranked 18th in the world, which is the highest of any African nation. The squad is also littered with top players most of whom are plying their trade in the top tier of European football.
Beat Senegal and we may face either France or Argentina in the quarter-final. A piece of cake, eh? First things first and it’s a fantastic game to look forward to on Sunday evening. Plenty of England players are also getting on the pitch, which I feel is a big plus, just so that there isn’t a lack of match sharpness when a player might be needed out of the cold.
I think as a country we have now warmed up – excuse the pun – to the World Cup in Qatar, it took a while, but this mid-season break may actually work, certainly during the Premier League season.
Apart from England’s exploits in the World Cup, some other highlights have to be Cameroon’s comeback against Serbia and in particular Vincent Aboubaker’s goal which was straight from the Eric Cantona school of chips - and VAR didn’t do its worst and ruin the moment?
Another was Lionel Messi scoring that vital goal against Mexico, and with it momentarily lifting the weight of the country, which is firmly planted on his shoulders. What a player he still is.
Casemiro’s strike against the Swiss was a belter of a goal, and a sight to behold was seeing the Ghanian fans celebrate after every goal in their 3-2 victory against South Korea, a classic World Cup visual, joy and passion strewn across thousands of faces.