Of the eight teams that were once crowned world champions, England is the longest-running without having won a senior title. Specifically, there are 56 years of drought since the 1966 World Cup, that of the “Geoff Hurst ghost goal” in the final against Beckenbauer’s Germany.
Since then, figures of the stature of Kevin Keegan, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard, just to name a few of the most iconic, they have formed great teams, but have not managed to consecrate themselves. Penalty kicks were one of his main enemies, winning only 2 out of 9 between World Cups and Europeans, and weakness in moments of greatest tension became noticeable.
the end of Euro 2021, at home in the legendary Wembley stadium against Italy, was the first definition of a great championship after that of the 66th minute and was foreseen as a golden opportunity to break this negative streak. Donnaruma, however, was more than Pickford and from the twelve steps the curse was lengthening.
Qatar 2022 It will be a new opportunity for the English team to rediscover glory. Your path will start against Iran (11/21) and then you will see faces with United States of America (25/11) and Welsh (11/29), which in preview seems to be an accessible group to access the second round.
The technician: Gareth Southgate, the villain who wants to be a hero
Gareth Southgate was the face of one of the most painful defeats of English team throughout its history. For the semifinals of Euro 1996 against Germany, at home and after drawing 1-1 in regulation time, he was the only one to miss a penalty in definition and sentenced his team to elimination.
“I spent twenty years thinking about that night. Because of my personality, I always thought I had to take responsibility, but it probably would have been better not to kick if I hadn’t had faith “, he later recalled. At Euro 2021, already as a coach, he managed to take off some of that. weight from the shoulders beating the Teutonic team in the second round.
After a previous stint with the Under 21 team between 2013 and 2016, the English Football Association he relied on him to take charge of the mayor and opted for a long-term project. Aware that they were one of the people who best knew the promises that were emerging, they signed a four-year contract that was then extended until 2024.
After the blow of being eliminated in the group stage in Brazil 2014, the change of course was necessary and he was chosen to face the generational change. He did not hesitate to remove from the team two historic players like Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere who joined the emblem retreats Wayne Rooney and James Milner. From Euro 2016 to the 2018 World Cup, only 11 players repeated out of the 23 called up, giving clues to young people like Alexander Arnold, Lotus Cheek and Marcus Rashford.
In this way, the serious work began to pay off and, for the first time in over 50 years, England chained two consecutive semi-finals in the big events: third place in Russia 2018, with the addition of finishing the ugly series of penalties in the quarter-finals with Colombia, and second place in the continental tournament of 2021. Of course, nothing guarantees success in football, but the margin of error will always be less when things are done well. And the “Southgate Project” excites the Three lions.
The figure: Harry Kane, the holder of the goals in England
Billed as the player with the most goals for a single club in the entire history of the Premier League, Harry Kane is the England scorer card. Just look at their numbers to confirm this.
The 29-year-old striker three times England’s top scorer with Tottenhamhe has scored 51 goals in 75 games for the national team and is second in the historical standings, just three behind Rooney, which reached him in 120 games. Among active footballers, the one who follows him, far behind, is Raheem Sterling (19 out of 79).
Not counting the friendlies, he leads the statistic with 44. He was the top scorer (12) in the last UEFA qualifiers, along with Memphis Depay. Additionally, he won the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot in Russia after scoring six goals, which places him as England’s second top scorer in the World Cup, just behind ten of Gary Linker (6 in 1986 and 4 in 1990).
In short, that 9-year-old boy who Arsenal released for being “chubby and not very athletic” is on whom the hopes of shouting champion in Qatar are deposited, because, beyond his extraordinary numbers, he has known to shine in big events.
He is the sporting leader of the team. Gareth Southgate, but of course he also assumes that role in the changing rooms. Captain and reference, it was he who supported the project after the hard 0-4 against. Hungary for the UEFA Nations League. “I know it’s disappointing, but we have to look at the big picture,” he said lowering a message of calm, defining the team as “one of the biggest hits we’ve had in the past 50 years.”
The team: from a small crisis to the tranquility of the project
In the midst of an undoubtedly winning cycle, in addition to not being able to crown it with a title, the aforementioned defeat at home against Hungary for the League of Nationsthe greatest in his history in an unfriendly match, he invaded a team that ended up fighting to avoid being relegated to Zone B.
Fans booed at Molineaux Stadium, Wolverhampton’s home, and press criticism was not long in coming. However, the internal message is clear. “We have played two fantastic tournaments in a row. This is no time to panic.”saved Harry Kane.
South gateinstead, it confirmed its trust in its leaders with a clear and strong message: “This group of players has been fantastic for their country and it is important that people stay with them. They will continue to be strong in the future.”He assured at a press conference.
The “general panorama”, as the Tottenham striker invited to analyze, shows that the first of the defeats against the Hungarians (1-0 at Puskas Arena) cut as many as 22 unbeaten games that he had brought home from the fall with Belgium for the same competition in November 2020. Nothing to worry about.
Before Qatar, they had the opportunity to face two powers like Italy and Germany to close your participation in the League of Nations: 0-1 against the national team at Giuseppe Meazza and 3-3 against the Bavarians at Wembley, who decreed his relegation to Zone B. Little, little. The cards are placed.
Source: Clarin
