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NGLAND had a summer which could have seen them take a giant step towards an era they hope will see them compete at the pinnacle of world football. Despite finishing third in the UEFA Nations League, England’s national side have been able to continue their learning curve – albeit the hard way towards international success. Just 12 months ago, Gareth Southgate and his players were preparing for a World Cup more in hope than expectation – a youthful squad packed full of potential but also fighting to burst out of the malaise that had gripped the national side for a decade. But a run to the World Cup semifinals in Russia, which was built on by victories over Spain and Croatia to seal a place in the UEFA Nations League finals, had suddenly brought the Three Lions to the edge of glory. Football is a team game, but in captain Harry Kane they have a player who almost alone typifies what England were – and what they could be.
Here was a player who had shone at club level, but who for some reason had not performed on the big stage previously, having disappointed hugely at Euro 2016. Kane was one of the players who had experienced the negative feeling that always surrounded England, right back to when the so-called Golden Generation had come up short time and again.
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And despite his unbelievable goalrecord in the run-up to Russia 2018 there were still plenty ready to doubt whether he could deliver, and if he was the right man to lead the country.
Kane blew those doubts away by scoring six goals at the World Cup to finish as leading scorer, as England defied all the critics with a brand of football which delighted globally and with an open approach that had the fans back home eating out of their hands. And the striker, now rightly regarded as one of the best in the world at finding the net, admits 2018 was a huge year for the national side on and off the pitch. Kane, 25, said: “You could say we’ve blown the shackles away. “It’s been a long time since we reached the semi-final in a major tournament, we won a knockout game for the first time in a while, a penalty shootout as well. “There were a lot of high-pressure situations where maybe in the past we wouldn’t have come through. “We have no reason to fear anyone now. It is down to us to maintain that in years to come.” Since returning from Russia, where they reached a first major semi-final since Euro 96, England took another important step by beating Spain and Croatia to book their place in the Nations League finals.
