The men’s team’s 1,000th international game comes on Monday against a nation that is fighting for its freedomI played six major tournaments from 2004 to 2014: three World Cups and three European Championships. Euro 2012 took place in Poland and Ukraine. We played the group stage in Kharkiv and Lviv. Ukraine has a great football culture – that was noticeable.It has also had great footballers. Andriy Shevchenko, Igor Belanov and Oleg Blokhin were Europe’s footballers of the year. Valeriy Lobanovskyi, the legend of the Dynamo Kyiv bench, continues to influence European football; many system coaches refer to him. In 2001, when I was making my way towards the professional team at Bayern Munich, Germany had a difficult task against Ukraine...
Best creative attacker is likely to determine whether Gareth Southgate can finally mould a genuine champion teamWith 40 minutes gone at Wembley Stadium Bukayo Saka took the ball in the inside left channel, bumped away the yellow shirt at his back and produced that familiar whip‑crack turn, one of those moments where he just seems to have a weirdly preternatural grasp of the physics of movement, snaking off into spaces that aren’t, technically, supposed to be there. Perhaps this is one reason why he gets kicked a lot. There is no logical answer to this problem.Saka had time to think about what to do next, a micro-second of processing time. The finish was ridiculous. Not novel or unorthodox: the left-foot...
Sixteen years after reopening, Wembley still does not feel like home but it gave the visitors an opportunity for expressionA recorded announcement plays on a loop on the approach to Wembley Stadium. “I’m Clive Tyldesley,” says the voice, for the voice is indeed Clive Tyldesley’s. “It is not allowed to drink alcohol on Olympic Way or the surrounding streets. This is due to a Public Space Protection Order. I’m sorry, it’s the law.”On Tyldesley goes, advising fans that anybody caught with an open container of alcohol will be dealt with by law enforcement officers, before warning that bags over a certain size will not be permitted into the stadium. “I’m sorry,” Tyldesley repeats, and to be fair he genuinely does...
On a frenzied night of red shirts, bucket hats and steadying drink, Gareth Bale gave the fans a once in a lifetime experienceAs the full-time whistle blew during our scruffy 1-0 win over Northern Ireland at Euro 2016, the older man behind me was weeping at the prospect of watching Wales in the quarter-final of a major championship. I performatively puffed out my cheeks and raised an eyebrow, in that way people do after reading a BuzzFeed article about how many egg whites Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson eats in a day.Feeling we had sufficiently bonded over Gareth McAuley’s own goal, and as he seemed to be in his 60s, I asked if he remembered Wales reaching the quarter- finals of...
He does not dominate matches as he once did but Bale was instrumental in the goal that sent his country to their first World Cup finals in 64 yearsIt was about Gareth Bale. If it was about Wales, it was always going to be about Bale. He may have played only 22 minutes of football in the 10 weeks since the playoff semi-final win over Austria; he may not be able to last anything like a full game; he may in effect have become a former player as far as Real Madrid are concerned; but he is still the player who makes Wales more than just another mid‑ranking side.There will be those who have their subjective preferences for John Charles...