The Manchester City forward came off the bench to produce his best 20 minutes for his country and Gareth SouthgateFor all the minor chords around this current run of close-season internationals, the sense of something frazzled and desiccated at the end of a gruelling year, there was a light, fun quality to this 1-1 draw in Munich.This was a breezy game that meant nothing, that ended all square, but which still threw up its own subplots in the shape of Harry and Jack, two England players who are currently auditioning for their own parts in England’s plan of attack. Continue reading...
At first glance the Bayern Munich and West Germany striker’s work was underwhelming – until you realise he was doing it every week, season after seasonComparisons are odious, and nearly always absurdly reductive, but here we go anyway. In 2012, Lionel Messi set a new record for goals scored in a calendar year. Let’s not try too hard to be iconoclastic: his tally of 91 for Barcelona and Argentina in 2012 was one of football’s monumental achievements, a jaw-dropping effort over the long haul, even if the only silverware it earned him that year was the Copa del Rey. Poor Leo didn’t get too much bang for his buck there.The previous mark had been set by Gerd Müller. In 1972,...
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...
Offered a chance of redemption following the humiliation of the 2018 World Cup, the team failed to assert themselvesAn empire has fallen not once, but twice. This could have been Germany’s great reprieve, the searing statement that paved them a clear path to the final and a chance to smooth out the scars inflicted by their catastrophe at Russia 2018. Although it bore an altogether different hue to the humiliation at South Korea’s hands in Kazan, it was more painful in a certain sense: the Joachim Löw era fizzled out at an ecstatic Wembley, of all places, and the sight of a chuntering Thomas Müller stomping down the touchline after being substituted showed that ultimately there could be no quick...
Southgate’s men delivered a result to match the euphoric atmosphere of fans experiencing a rare taste of freedomThe fifth rendition of Vindaloo winds to a close. A can of lager is thrown into the air. By the time it lands with a spume of spray in among the thousands of fans congregating in Arena Square, another can has been launched skywards, and then another, and another, and another. Two hours before England play Germany, and Wembley Way is a monsoon of beer, sweat, rain, beer, songs, beer and hope.The mood is euphoric, not sour; festive, not hostile. There is the occasional lyrical tribute to the RAF but by and large the minority of German fans shuffling towards the stadium are...