Will something great come out of this English side? Or will history repeat itself?
Should the Premier League be dubbed ‘the best league in the world?’ How can that be when the English national football team has failed miserably at major tournaments?
On paper, England have never been short of quality. In 2010 at World Cup South Africa, a golden generation of players–Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, and Daniel Sturridge–was thrashed 4-0 by Germany in a group stage match and relegated from the competition. The team failed to make it past the group stages at the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup–in a group that consisted of Uruguay, Italy, and Costa Rica.
But things seem to be changing under new manager, Gareth Southgate.
To exact that outcome, Southgate re-called three under-21 players–Declan Rice of West Ham United, Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund, and Hudson Odoi of Chelsea. And those three players are such a joy to watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83dZbWVioLA
At only 17 years-of-age, Rice started almost all matches for West Ham last season. This season Rice, again, has made the defensive midfield position his at West Ham. Sancho has been a revelation at Dortmund–the reason behind the team’s strong start, Dortmund’s ability to reach the last 16 of the Champions League, and a prime reason it is occupying first seat in Bundesliga. Odoi’s plays often defy gravity as he leaves defenders in their tracks. It’s s why he is such a coveted piece of property.
There’s more, too. Harry Kane was the Golden Boot winner at last year’s World Cup, and Raheem Sterling has been in a sensational form with Manchester City. At the time of writing, England currently occupies the top spot in the group of 2020 Euro group qualifiers.
So maybe–just maybe–England might have found the right recipe to conquer Europe.
But the great thing about sport is that projections are trumped by performance. Will something great come out of this English side? Or will history repeat itself, just as the African Proverb says: “Di retwa ge di boa mokatong ka gobane molomo ona o tshela noka e tletse meetse.”
We’ll see.
