The scene is set. England welcome Slovenia to Wembley, with victory securing a place in the World Cup Finals. Time ticked away- England needed a hero to emerge. Someone stepped up to the challenge and, with all of his might, threw a paper aeroplane onto the pitch. The game was saved. Harry Kane scored as well, so England won. Yay!
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| Only time I would celebrate a Harry Kane goal |
It says a lot about England when the most memorable moment of their crunch game against Slovenia was someone deciding to demonstrate both their origami and physical prowess. Even though qualification was secure and plans can be made for a venture to Russia, the game was dire and was, quite honestly, a waste of time.
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| Preach |
Don't get me wrong though, there have been some good games involving our national football team. Cast your minds back to the pre-Euro 2016 friendlies, when we bested the Germans in their own back yard. Conquering the Welsh at said tournament was a high point (forget about losing to Iceland though) and a dramatic draw against Scotland in the World Cup qualifiers was certainly a thriller.
The time is now at hand to silently hope that England can pull off the impossible and become world champions. Plastic flags will be placed upon cars and various companies will start to bring out adverts that whips the nation into a frenzy about defeating our opponents. It's an integral part about being a sport fan in this country; loads of hype, and then horrendous failure.
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| Maybe, just maybe |
The common argument is that England have one of the best teams on paper, which is a good shout. Compared to the Germans or the French, we are certainly out-classed, but we can hold our own. Kane is a leading Premier League striker, Raheem Sterling can outrun a train fuelled by steroids and even Jack Wilshere has thrown his hat into the ring with some steady performances outside of Arsenal's first team. Would have been nice to see him play against Watford last night though...
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| FIFA legend |
But then we have our blips. Joe Hart was once seen as the perfect candidate to fill the boots of David Seaman, and now he's a bit...well... rubbish. Also, have you seen how bad Oxlade Chamberlain has been ever since he moved to Liverpool in the hopes of playing some decent football? Laughable at club level, but England need his pace. Get it together Ox.
The question remains of who shall take England to the promised land of World Cup glory. Teams need that heroic figure to steady the ship and direct their comrades with precision and grace. Kane can be that player (as long as he doesn't take corners) and perhaps one day that beautiful Marcus Rashford fella will bring glory to our shores once more.
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| He's pretty decent |
So I pose this question: can England win the World Cup? No, nowhere near. But the good thing is that we aren't supposed to win. We are a long way off being on the same level as the Germans, French, Italians, Spanish, Brazilians, Argentinians, Belgians- it's a big list. Constant qualification is great and all, but all that is doing is papering over the clear cracks in England's footballing structure.
Yet I propose this resolution. Let's go to Russia next year, bundle our way through the tournament and win the whole bloody thing. Let's keep up the trend of pissing off the rest of the world by continuously upsetting the odds and throwing the world into disarray. Brexit was a bombshell; winning the World Cup would be a nuclear annihilation.
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| Keep the faith |
Ben G 😁 xo
P.S. This is Part 1 of a three part series on the chances England have of winning the World Cup. Part 2 will assess England's chances before the very start of the tournament, and Part 3 will give a comprehensive review of how we did.
P.P..S. I have survived my first week as a Cover Teacher. Children are scary.
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| I have the poooowwweeerrrr |
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