History is there to be rewritten and Gareth Southgate’s England are doing a good job of that so far in Russia. But where does the journey end?
To label Gareth Southgate’s young England team as « history boys » would perhaps be pushing it for a nation which does, after all, have a World Cup on its honours list.
You may have heard about 1966, when England won their one and only international competition. The English mention it an awful lot whenever a World Cup comes around, but it has become more of a burden than an inspiration in recent tournaments.
When the « Football’s Coming Home » song was penned in 1996, ahead of Euro 96, the key lyric was of « Thirty years of hurt, » but 22 years on, nothing has changed to end that pain.
Fifty-two years of hurt and all that, but nowadays, England are having to set more attainable targets — or at least until they began to believe that they might actually win this World Cup in Russia.
Before talk of a second World Cup begins in earnest, though, England must erase some of their more unwanted football history when they face Sweden in their quarterfinal in Samara on Saturday.
Since they won the World Cup in 1966, England have qualified for the finals on nine occasions prior to Russia 2018 and gone beyond the last eight just once. In 1990, Bobby Robson’s team came within a penalty shootout of reaching the World Cup final, only to lose to West Germany in the semifinal in Turin.
Before then, and since, it has been a recurring tale of woe, which has gone progressively worse since the last quarterfinal appearance at Germany 2006 — that one ended with another penalty shootout defeat, against Portugal.
South Africa 2010 ended with a second-round exit against Germany, while four years ago in Brazil, Roy Hodgson’s team finished bottom of their group and were on the first flight home.
So England, having fallen to the foot of the mountain, now find themselves climbing back up it, but Russia 2018 has already seen them write more positive chapters in the nation’s footballing history.
Can they do it again by beating the Swedes on Saturday? For Southgate, the small, positive steps are becoming big ones and he admits there is a real hunger to write some more history in Samara.
« We came into this tournament as the least experienced team, » he said. « We were also one of the youngest teams in it, but we said we’re an improving side who want to make our own history.
« Now we have a first knockout win in over 10 years, a first penalty shootout win at the World Cup, and the highest number of goals in a game.
« It’s not since 1990 that we’ve been in a World Cup semifinal. We’re hugely ambitious and want to do that this time, but there’s nothing more in our mind than Saturday’s game. »
This is by no means the best England team to reach this stage of a World Cup since 1966.
Aside from the 1990 team, who remain national heroes merely for making it to the last four, many judges would argue that the side which lost to West Germany in 1970 — England were reigning world champions at the time — was the best of the lot.
England were eliminated from the 1982 World Cup, after a second group stage, without losing a game in Spain, while Diego Maradona’s genius and sleight of hand did for Robson’s team in the 1986 quarterfinals.
After failing to qualify for USA 94, Argentina were the roadblock in the second round at France 98, before 10-man Brazil overturned a 1-0 deficit to eliminate England in the quarterfinals in 2002.
Over the years, England have been on the wrong side of good fortune more times than they care to remember at this stage of a World Cup.
From losing goalkeeper Gordon Banks to food poisoning before the West Germany game in 1970 to Maradona’s « Hand of God » in 1986, they have not enjoyed the rub of the green.
In Russia, though, the draw has opened up for England, as it did with knockout ties against Belgium and Cameroon in 1990.
Sweden are ranked 24th — two places below England’s Euro 2016 nemesis Iceland — in the FIFA world rankings, while Russia or Croatia would await if Southgate’s men were to make it to the semifinals.
Having won just one quarterfinal at the World Cup since 1966, thoughts have now turned, perhaps prematurely, to a clash against the hosts in Moscow next Wednesday for a place in the final.
Harry Kane, the England captain, was asked about that prospect in Samara and what he would call somebody who had suggested a Russia-England collision in the last four.
« I’m not sure what you’d call someone like that, » Kane said. « I don’t think a lot of people expected the teams in the quarterfinals to be here now, to be honest, and the semifinal is the same, whoever gets there.
« It’s hard to put a name on it, but a lot of fans have dreams. Players have dreams too. They can be a dreamer.
« But we’re not really thinking about being world champions yet. We’ve got a long way to go.
« We’re only just in the second half of the tournament. We’ve done great up until now, but we have another step to overcome. »
And it is a step that has tripped England up so many times. Can this time be different in Samara?
History is there to be rewritten and Southgate’s players are doing a good job of that so far in Russia.
