I watched England’s decades of underachievement marred by menace, capped by 2016’s Iceland defeat. I’m glad I kept goingAs I walk down Olympic Way from Wembley Park tube station on Sunday night, in hope though not expectation, I will think Nice thoughts. About complacency, about comedy, and above all the near-agony of the miles-long trudge away from that French city’s stadium on gout-scarred feet after watching England exit the last European Championship.On 27 June 2016, the national team took decades of underachievement to depths beyond contemplation, losing to an Iceland team in their country’s first major finals, drawing from a population of about 350,000. Or about the aggregate attendance at Premier League matches across a single pre-pandemic weekend. Related: How...
Gareth Southgate’s admirably modest team may just offer some form of redemption for World Cup veterans like meBack then – 30 July 1966 – it was pretty well possible to park your car within a minute’s walk of Wembley’s twin towers, and when our Ford Zephyr came to a juddering halt, me clutching the envelope containing our tickets in one hand and my self-constructed union jack flagpole in the other, my dad gave me a talk I had never expected. It was not about the rarity of this moment, the first English appearance in a World Cup final since the tournament began. It was about the opposition team: West Germany. I said I knew they were good. East Germany, by...
The England manager’s success is about clarity and individual responsibility, about things that seem opposed to tribal politicsAt the end of England’s semi-final victory against Denmark Gareth Southgate appeared on the Wembley pitch and walked across to commune with the England fans. A bit frazzled, but still dapper and trim and looking, as ever, like a kindly infantry officer who secretly writes poetry, Southgate went to the western end of Wembley, the end from which the boos before kick-off had emerged earlier in the tournament, but which responded now in a great barrelling surge of noise as Southgate waved and gurned in response. Related: The Guardian view on the England team: making the whole country proud | Editorial Related: Defeating...
Kane’s movement, the wide players’ pace and substitutions could bring joy for Southgate, Euro 2020’s best chess player Romelu Lukaku found out the hard way how good Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci are. The Belgium striker tried to get the better of Italy’s veteran centre-backs by going right up against them but they thrive on such tactics, and even someone who has scored 50 goals for club and country in the past year was kept quiet.Chiellini and Bonucci have 219 caps between them so know a thing or two about how to defend at this level, ensuring Lukaku’s best chance came from the penalty spot. They like everything in front of them – they want to bully strikers, get round...
England and Italy managers have moulded a style and attitude that resonates with the players and their own publicAs the 2024 European Championship will take place in Germany I am naturally interested in the appearance and impact of the home teams at the current tournament. It is important for the atmosphere and reach of a tournament that a home team plays with courage and spreads optimism. It is important that it has characters within the squad with whom fans can identify. That the players are aware that they are playing at home and that the crowd can feel it. Related: England beat Denmark in extra time to set up Euro 2020 final with Italy Related: Italy into Euro 2020 final...