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England Review: A Changing of the Guard Is in Order for Roy Hodgson’s Side
Published: September 12, 2012
England were qualified for the World Cup in Germany, just two years removed from an impressive European Campaign in Portugal (they'd lost on penalties to Portugal in the quarterfinals) that had seen 18-year-old Wayne Rooney become a star and a number of very, very good individual performers show their merits as they headed into the primes of their careers.
It should've been different, then, and maybe it might have been had Rooney not injured his metatarsal weeks before England prepped to face Paraguay in their first group stage match.
Still, with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Joe and Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry (and, lest we forget, David Beckham) all in their mid-to-late 20s, and all coming off prodigious seasons at club level, there was every reason to think a serious push for silverware was in order.
But the script would play out differently. Rooney, rushed to fitness, was a shadow of his ubiquitous self, Gerrard and Lampard failed to fire together in midfield, Joe Cole provided one sensational strike against Sweden before fizzling.
Were it not for some well-timed connections between Beckham and Crouch, and some positively wondrous free kicks from the then-Galactico, England could have crashed out much sooner than they did (once more, to Portugal in the quarterfinals, once more on penalties).
Cases can be made that England continually shoot themselves in the foot in major competitions—whether it be choking on penalties or failing to control rushes of blood to the head (costly red cards to Beckham in 1998 against Argentina, and Rooney against Portugal in '06).
Whatever the reason, the golden generation of aforementioned stars—so brilliant at club level—have failed to replicate their success at the international scene.
2010 proved nothing more substantial than a four-g...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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