Why Ingerland Will Win Euro 2008

One of these days we’ll stop. Seriously. This article, written for the BBC way back in 2003, is a little tongue-in-cheek look at England’s “Golden Generation” and perhaps shines a little light on why England, whose main downfall is that everyone thinks they’re better than they are, could not advance onto Swissaustria. Back then it appeared that the Three Lions were well on their way to global domination, or at least some thought they were. Maybe it was a little bit of delusion, maybe a little bit of hope, mostly a case of being too overzealous. Whatever it was, the door has been closed, and it’s time to move on. A few of the favorite excerpts:

Chris Kirkland, 21 now, will be the world’s finest goalkeeper by 2008, especially after another five years of shot-stopping practice at the back of Liverpool’s attack-shy team.

Ouch.

Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips will be devastating wing-backs, whose surging runs will leave Italians crying into their capuccinos and Germans blubbing in their bratwursts.

I’m still trying to imagine SWP as a “devastating” wingback. Could be the first person in the recent history Roberto Carlos towers over.

With [David] Dunn (28 in 2008) and [Joeinho] Cole (26 in 2008) possessing maturity and talent, all England need is for (Steven) Gerrard (27) to end his current run of form which is, unfortunately, rubbish.

Gerrard’s doing alright now, thanks for asking.

England will have so much talent up front it will be embarrassing, and other teams may concede games before kick-off to avoid the humiliation on the pitch.

Number of career goals from England’s latest callups: 14,3,1,0. The 14? Peter Crouch. Woof. (Of course, it’s the same number as the Roonster in 16 less games. Who knew?)

But of course, the voice of reason…

The England Under-21s side of 1993 does not exactly read like a list of world beaters.

Perhaps the end to what is rapidly approaching 40 years of hurt is not quite as close as it appears.

…was right. A lesson for fans of all countries: You might want to wait until the actual senior team starts producing before getting those hopes up. Beware of the “Golden Generations”, more often than not, they’re gilded rather than solid gold.

Category: World Football

Tags: World Football

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