England: the best team for the past 40 years

Boundless optimism has always been a feature of England’s football. At major championships players and officials from the sport’s mother country were generally considered to be one of the top favourites. But with the same regularity, the men with the “Three Lions” on their chests just couldn’t live up to their own expectations. England have appeared in the World Cup finals on eleven occasions but only once on home soil in 1966 were their supporters able to acclaim a title. This time though many experts and especially the English media are certain of one thing: since the World Cup win almost 40 years ago no other England team was as good as the present one. It’s something that they intend to underline with the whole world watching at the FIFA World Cup 2006.

Here you can find information about the star of the team ...

England’s upsurge is closely associated with the person now in charge. When in January 2001 the Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson took over the sceptre as the first ever foreigner, the national team was a bunch of players all at odds with one another and totally lacking any self-confidence. They hadn’t recovered from the shock of the 1996 European Championships defeat by Germany in front of their own supporters and from being knocked out of the 1998 World Cup by Argentina in the last 16 – both losses came after penalty shoot-outs. The 57-year-old Swedish coach was loved by the fans right from the very start. Not because his purposeful football fresh from the drawing board was that attractive but because Eriksson taught the English how to win. He immediately chalked up five wins in his first five matches and has since established a record of 33 wins from 58 games with only 10 defeats up to October 2005. And he importantly won 5-1 away to arch rivals Germany in World Cup qualifying in 2002. It gave him automatic cult status.

But Eriksson’s popularity has suffered. Especially as a result of the far from gentle English gutter press whose criticism became particularly harsh in autumn 2005 after the 1-0 defeat in Northern Ireland. Regular demands that the Swede be replaced were combined with the wish to appoint a native coach again. However, England have only lost four times in competitive games under Eriksson’s guidance prior to October 2005: in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals against World Cup winners Brazil (2-1), at EURO 2004 in the group match against France (2-1) and in the quarterfinals to Portugal after a penalty shoot-out and 1-0 against Northern Ireland in World Cup qualifying. 

The English players are keyed up to win the World Cup. “It’s definitely the time to win something again,” said superstar and captain David Beckham. “We’ve got a young team and are in a position to end the drought that’s lasted so many years.” They strolled comfortably through qualifying and already had the ticket to Germany in their pockets before the final match. In the meantime, there are just as many stars in England as there is tea in China. Beckham first and foremost.  The 30-year-old is more than just a footballer. He is a football playing “gesamtkunstwerk”. “Spice Boy” – but very few of his nicknames gives one an idea as to his profession.

Alongside Beckham’s there’s other outstanding players. Michael Owen for instance. The little striker from Liverpool, unhappy at Real Madrid he was transferred back to the British Isles for 25 million Euro to Newcastle United in summer 2005. With 33 international goals to his name, the 25-year-old now ranks fourth on his country’s all-time goal scoring list behind Bobby Charlton (49), Gary Lineker (48) and Jimmy Greaves (44). And there’s Steven Gerrard (25), the tireless driving force, who led his club Liverpool to their Champions League triumph in 2005. And there’s Wayne Rooney (20), the youngest English international of all time when aged 17 years and 111 days and the shooting star of the EURO 2004 with his four goals. In Portugal he also became the youngest ever goal-scorer at a European Championships. The lively centre forward hasn’t  however returned to his uninhibited self yet after breaking a bone in his right foot at the European Championships and he failed to score in qualifying.

After Paul Scholes retired last year the king pin and engine of the English game is however somebody completely different: Frank Lampard. The 29-year-old Chelsea player is England’s midfield general and the only player to appear in all ten qualifying matches. His five goals made him the top scorer. He plays nowhere as near as spectacularly as Beckham or Rooney but nobody could imagine him not being the midfield distributor in Eriksson’s 4-4-2 system.

Eriksson not only has an excellent “first team” at his disposal but also top class alternatives in all areas of the team. Between the posts, the 1.93 m tall Paul Robinson (26, Tottenham Hotspur) has now made the goalkeeping position his own. On the right of the defence, the experienced Gary Neville (30, Manchester United) has recently often had to make way for Luke Young (26, Charlton Athletic). On the left, Ashley Cole (24, Arsenal) is a certainty. The central defence is usually comprised of Rio Ferdinand (28, Manchester United) and John Terry (24, Chelsea). But in the likes of Sol Campbell (31, Arsenal), Jamie Carragher (27, Liverpool) and Ledley King (25, Tottenham Hotspur), there’s experienced players waiting in the wings. The rich array of talent nurtures the hope they can repeat their 1966 triumph at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.