Paul Gascoigne’s bottom lip wobbled as he was ruled out of a World Cup final England would never reach, and Gazzamania was born“I got the ball in the centre circle and bundled my way forward. Then, as Matthaus tried to nick it off me, I nudged the ball out of his reach, but overran it. I had to stretch as Thomas Berthold came across. I was giving it 110%. It was the World Cup semi-final and I didn’t want to give them anything for free. To this day I honestly don’t think I touched him, but down he went, rolling around as if in agony. I crouched down to make sure he was OK, and at that stage I wasn’t...
The manager spoke with sound good sense, offering perfectly pitched reasoning for every decision, every close call – to the extent you almost missed the old hysterical jingoismKnow ye by this press conference that we, the FA, consent to the contracting of World Cup squad-ship between our dearly beloved Gareth and his brave 23-man selection. Although obviously not Jack, Joe, Adam or Jonjo who are on this occasion gutted to miss out, but for whom the door is never closed, and all the lads are still very much in the frame going forwards.There was an unavoidable air of ceremony about Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad camera call on Thursday morning. On a bright, brittle late-spring day Wembley was already hung...
John Stones may count himself fortunate to be in England’s World Cup 23 but the manager has largely remained true to principles he set out just after his appointmentA video has been doing the rounds in the last couple of days showing the moment when Fagner, a defender for Corinthians, is waiting to discover whether he has been named in Brazil’s squad for the World Cup. It is lovely to see. Fagner is with his family – lots of family, mostly wearing that famous yellow kit – but standing apart, listening to the names being announced, one by one, on television. If he looks nervous it is understandable bearing in mind his whole career, at the age of 28, has...
Southgate is picking his World Cup squad and there are players he should choose even if they lack international experienceIt is that time of year again. The hawthorns are in bloom. The cow parsley is high. Men in shorts have already begun to gather cautiously in public places, puffing their chests, milk-white ankles proudly bared. And by Wednesday lunchtime mid-summer will make an early appearance with the announcement of an England squad for the World Cup in Russia.It is generally assumed Gareth Southgate is getting his selection for Russia 2018 out there a little early for the simple reason the squad basically picks itself. In the best possible sense this has become the most managed, carefully pondered England era, with...
Jack Wilshere will always have a devoted fan club but injuries have sabotaged his career and only Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s knee ligaments are keeping him in the World Cup pictureCan anyone remember those days when the common assumption about Gareth Southgate was that he was too gentlemanly, too afraid of upsetting people and, ultimately, too damn nice to succeed in an industry where all the people at the top occasionally have to use their elbows?That nonsense stopped being trotted out once Southgate made it a priority to phase out Wayne Rooney, the player around whom England’s national team had been shaped for the previous decade. Theo Walcott found out he had been jettisoned with a telephone call on the morning of...