England

England Team Overview

England National Team also known as the Three Lions or simply as the English Team has a long tradition in the world’s most popular sport. But even though being so famous all over the world, England has won only one FIFA World Cup in 1966 in 12 participations. As for continental titles, The Three Lions are still going to have to wait until 2012 as they failed to qualify for the 2008 final tournament of the Euro.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying

England's FIFA World Cup Qualifying fixtures were planned on January 14, 2008 in Zagreb.

England's first qualifying match will against Andorra in away game on Saturday 6 September 2008. Their last match will be against Belarus on Wednesday 14 October 2009, with the World Cup draw coming in December 2009. Venues have yet to be determined. The schedule for England's World Cup qualifying matches - when England is listed first that indicates a home game.

History

The Motherland of Football

Back in the mid-late 1840’s some students from Cambridge began a process to unify to different rules for the football played in England. Finally in, October of 1863, representatives of 12 clubs and schools got together to discuss the sport. Only one school didn’t agree with the new set of rules and the other 11 representatives formed England’s Football Association. Fourteen laws were the initial ones that and from that moment on it was the beginning of football as we know it today.

England played its first international match in 1872 against Scotland in Glasgow. The final score was 0-0 but that was the birth of the oldest international rivalries in football. For the following 35 years England would play only against the “home nations”: Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

In 1908 England toured through central Europe and for the first time played against non-British countries.

Issues with FIFA
In 1906 England joined the FIFA but disagreements made the English Football Association drop its membership in 1928 and only rejoin the institution in 1946. That caused the creators of the sport the world loves to be out of the three first editions of the FIFA World Cup.

1950’s

Brazil was the host of the first post-war World Cup in 1950. England was one of the favourites to win the title but after only one win and two loses, 1-0 to Spain and a astonishing 1-0 to the United States, England fell short in the group stage and was sent back home earlier.

Things still didn’t look good for the English team in 1953 when the team suffered its first defeat to a non-British team at the Wembley Stadium. Hungary, one of the most amazing teams of that decade, heavily beat the British by 6-3 with goals by Bozsic, Puskas (2) and a hat trick by Hidegkuti.

The next two World Cups were not good for the English Team either. In 1954 England reached the quarter-finals but was beaten by cup holders Uruguay and in 1958 in Sweden, after three draws in the group stage England could not move on to the knock-out rounds.

Road to the World Cup Title
In 1962 England played its fourth World Cup in a row but the team, once again, couldn’t get to the semi-finals. This time the English Team were stopped by strong side of Brazil.

One year later Alf Ramsey was announced as full time manager and it was exactly with him in charge that England achieved its most important title so far.

1966 FIFA World Cup
More than 100 years after that initial meeting that unified the rules of football England finally would have the chance to host a World Cup. Sixteen teams from five different confederations entered the competition.

England was seeded in Group 1 along with Uruguay, Mexico and France. A goalless opening match against Uruguay got the English fans apprehensive; they didn’t want to see their team fall short in a World Cup again, especially being the hosts.

The second match was against Mexico and with goals by Bob Charlton and Roger Hunt England won 2-0 and made the 92,000 fans present at the Wembley believe again in the glory of winning the Cup.

Almost 100,000 people watched England’s last match in the group stage against rivals France. Things couldn’t have been better for the Three Lions. The two goals of Roger Hunt not only assured England the first place of the group but also left disqualified France at the bottom.

In the quarter-finals the match against Argentina would mark the beginning of a rivalry that lasts up to the present days. The winning goal scored the Geoff Hurst was strongly disputed by the Argentine side with allegations of an offside position. The referee ignored all the Argies complaints and the South Americans would refer to it as “El robo del siglo” (The steal of the century). But England was through to the semi-finals and that’s all that mattered to the British fans.

Portugal had Eusebio, regarded to be “even better than Pelé” by the Portuguese fans. They had eliminated Brazil in the group stage by beating the title holders by a convincing 3-1; but all of that didn’t seem to have affected the British class. Bob Charlton scored the opening goal at minute 30 and that led England to take charge of the pace of the match. With 10 minutes to the final whistle Charlton would score again and Eusebio’s goal at minute 82 didn’t even bother the celebration on the stands. England was, for the first time in history, a World Cup finalist.

On July 30th, 1966 the Wembley Stadium was prepared to celebrate England’s first World Cup title but it wouldn’t come easily. The opponent was strong side of West Germany and they were the ones that, at minute 12, would score the first goal with Helmut Haller. 6 minutes later Geoff Hurst tied the score. One goal for each side in the first half and both team came back being more cautious in the defensive sector for the second half. Only at minute 78, West Ham midfielder Martin Peter put the British in front for the first time in the game. When everybody was ready to start the celebration Wolfgang Weber gave Germany the equalizer with one minute left to the end of the match. Another 30 minutes of extra time would be necessary to decide the 1966 World Cup Champions.

A powerful shot from Geoff Hurst, at minute 11 of the first half of extra time, would hit the crossbar and bounce back on the goal line. The British celebrates the goal as the Germans desperately try to teall the referee that the ball hadn’t crossed the line. Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst consults his linesman and confirms the goal. And at the very last minute of extra time Geoff Hurst scored England’s fourth goal, his third of the match; Hurst became then the first player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final. The Wembley Stadium can now breathe. England wins the 1966 World Cup. Team captain Bobby Moore climbs the steps of Wembley to receive the trophy.

Post Title Ups-and-Downs
In 1968 England made its first appearance in the European Football Championship. The team maintained the same base that won the 1966 World Cup and reached the semi-finals when they faced Yugoslavia. A goal in the 87 minute would decide the match in favour of Yugoslavia. As for the British, they would play for the third place against URSS. Then Geoff hurst and Bobby Charlton showed why they were one of the best teams in Europe in the late 60’s. Each of them scored one goal and England finished third in their debut in the Euro.

England would, in the 1970 World Cup, succumb to West Germany’s revenge thirst. The quarter-final match ended 3-2 for the German in another 120-minute game.

In 1974 and 1978 England failed to qualify for the World Cups played in Germany and in Argentina respectively. In Spain, in 1982, the format of the World Cup caused England to be knocked out in the second round without losing one single game in the competition.

1986 – England X Argentina

England got to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico with a 26-year old Gary Lineker playing at the top of his game. But the team struggled in the group with stage and qualified in second place with only one win and 3 goals scored only in the last match against Poland, all of them by Lineker.

From there things looked a lot better for England and with two more goals by Gary Lineker and one by Peter Beardsley the British demolished Paraguay in the round of 16.

The team was confident to play the quarterfinals against Argentina but they also knew that on the other side there were talents like Valdano, Burruchaga and the amazing Diego Maradona. For Argentina the game also represented a double revenge: a political one after the conflict the Malvinas/Falkland Islands and a soccer revenge for the 1966 quarter-finals.

More than 115,000 packed the Azteca Stadium to watch the Argentinians get their revenge just the way they wanted: with the referee missing Maradona’s handball, in fact a small punch on the ball in a dispute in the air that put the South Americans ahead at minute 51. Maradona would later refer to it and “the hand of God”.

Three minutes later a stunning run from Maradona that started on the Argentine side of the field and left 5 British defenders behind before he dribbled past Peter Shilton and scored one of the most incredible goals in the history of the World Cups. Gary Lineker would still score a consolation goal at minute 81 that gave him the Golden Boot as the top socrer of the competition. But the game was lost. England could only watch as the Argies celebrated their revenge.

Very close in 1990
Two draws and one win gave England the first place of Group F in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. In the round of sixteen England needed 119 minutes – as the 0-0 draw persisted into extra time – to beat Belgium and goalkeeper Michel Preudhomme. David Platt became the hero of the match by scoring the winning goal.

England played another 120 minutes of a very exciting game against the African sensation Cameroon in the quarter-finals. Platt scored the opening in the 25th minute but Emmanuel Kunde and Eugene Ekeke put Cameroon ahead in the second half. With 7 minutes to the end of regular time Gary Lineker made things even taking a perfect penalty kick. Another penalty kick and another goal by Lineker in the end of first half of extra-time sent England to the semi-finals, giving the British the impression that their second World Cup title was closer.

England had just come from 240 minutes of football to beat Belgium and Cameroon before facing, once again, West Germany in the semi-finals. The team was tired but the desire to win a second World Cup title made the players give all they could. The goals came only in the second half and the Germans scored first with Andreas Brehme. Lineker, always him, tied for England with 10 minutes left on the clock. Another extra time and this time the score wouldn’t chance and the finalist would be decided in the penalty shootout.

The episode of the yellow card received by Paul Gascoigne at the 9th minute of extra time also marked that 1990 World Cup semi-final. Gazza’s tacke was really reckless and the booking was deserved but for the British that would mean an immediate suspension which would leave out of the Final match. The brave Paul Gascoigne broke into tears. The image of the English athlete wiping his tears with his jersey was shown all over the planet and unfortunately for England those were not the only tears that they would shed.

The penalty shootout came and West Germany’s players looked calmer from the start. Brehme, Mathaus, Riedle and Olaf Thon scored for the Germans. Bodo Ilgner saved the first British penalty kick of Stuart Pearce then Lineker, Beardsley and Platt scored theirs. But Chris Waddle’s shot over the crossbar put an end to England’s hope of a second World Cup title.

The team then felt all the physical and psychological exhaustion in the third place match against Italy. The hosts beat the worn out British 2-1. England’s fourth place in the 1990 World Cup is still the best result of the team since the 1966 title.

1996 European Championship
As England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup it was time to focus on the 1996 Euro. Thirty years after hosting the World Cup, England was now the hosts for the European Nations Championship. Terry Venables was the new coach with the task to repeat the success and the team had Alan Shearer as the responsible for scoring the goals. And he did. With 5 goals Shearer was the top scorer of the competition but England’s fate was a repetition of the 1990 World Cup.

Germany was, once again, the opponent in the semi-final and once again the game was decided in the penalty shootout. And to make it a perfect revival Germany won again.

The 75,862 spectators present at the Wembley couldn’t celebrate like they did thirty years before.

Great players but no titles

In the most recent years England has given the world of football players like David Beckham, Michael Owen, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and more recently Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott but the team has not lived up to the fans expectations.

From 2001 to 2006 the Swedish coach Sven-Göran Eriksson became the first non-British manager to ever be in charge of the Three Lions. But with the team falling in two consecutive World Cups the Football Association brought Steven McLaren to the post with hopes to regain the lost prestige as the team started its preparation for the 2008 Euro.

EURO 2008
For the 2008 EURO, the European Championship, England was seeded in the Group E along with Andorra, Croatia, Estonia, Israel, Macedonia and Russia.

The 5-0 victory in the first match against Andorra gave the fans the impression that the team was focused, determined and on the right path to easily get to the final stage of the tournament. But nobody was prepared for what would come next. The 1-0 win over Macedonia was already concerning and all hell broke loose when the Three Lions tied 0-0 with the same Macedonia but this time playing in the Old Trafford which was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Croatia and another goaless tie against Israel.

The concern was noticeable by then. England was at that point in fourth place of the group behind Croatia, Russia and Israel and only one point ahead of Macedonia. England then began a win strwak against the weaker opponents of the group but the loses to Russia and to Croatia in the last two matches shocked the country. England failed to qualify to the final tournament of the 2008 Euro finishing in third place of the group, exactly behind Russia and Croatia.

Steven McLaren lost his job as manager and after some speculations was replaced by Italian Fabio Capello. The English Team now is focused in preparing the team for the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers that will start in August of 2008.

Stars of the Current England Squad

David Beckham

• Date of Birth: May 2nd, 1975
• Position: Midfielder / Right winger
• Height: 183cm
• The king of free kicks, perfect passes and marketing David Beckham has just got his 100th call up for the national squad and hopes to stay fit and playing well for his MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy to be useful during the World Cup Qualifiers.

Steven Gerrard

• Date of Birth: May 30th, 1980
• Position: Midfielder
• Height: 183cm
• Gerrard could be described as “the lung” of the team. He’s a midfielder who covers a large area of the pitch playing in what can be called “box-to-box” role. He is a sure name in every call up for the national team for his leadership and consistency.

Wayne Rooney

• Date of Birth: October 24th, 1985
• Position: Striker
• Height: 178cm
• The short-tempered striker was the youngest player to ever wear the English National Jersey when he made his debut at age 17. Rooney has been, at times, compared to Diego Maradona but the British is still waiting for a chance to really shine in a World Cup.

England Football Legends

Lineker

• Full Name: Gary Winston Lineker
• Date of Birth: November 30, 1960(1972-08-30)
• Position: Striker
• Caps: 80
• Goals: 48

Peter Shilton

• Full Name: Peter Leslie Shilton
• Date of Birth: September 18, 1949(1945-11-03)
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Caps: 125

Alan Shearer

• Full Name: Alan Shearer
• Date of Birth: August 13, 1970
• Position: Striker
• Caps: 63
• Goals: 30

Bobby Moore

• Full Name: Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore
• Date of Birth: April 12, 1941(1951-09-05)
• Position: Defender
• Caps: 108
• Goals: 2

Geoff Hurst

• Full Name: Geoffrey Charles Hurst
• Date of Birth: December 8, 1941 (1960-04-13) (1951-09-05)
• Position: Striker
• Caps: 49
• Goals: 24

Gascoigne

• Full Name: Paul John Gascoigne
• Date of Birth: May 27, 1967(1960-04-13) (1951-09-05)
• Position: Midfielder
• Caps: 57
• Goals: 10

Bobby Charlton

• Full Name: Sir Robert Charlton
• Date of Birth: October 11, 1937 (1960-04-13) (1951-09-05)
• Position: Midfielder/Striker
• Caps: 106
• Goals: 49

Gordon Banks

• Full Name: Gordon Banks
• Date of Birth: December 30, 1937(1960-04-13) (1951-09-05)
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Caps: 73

Most International Matches Played

Most Appearances

Most Goals

Player Recognition & Awards

Team Honours

FIFA World Cup

• 1966 World Cup Champions

European Championship

• 1968, third place

Management

Head Coach: Fabio Capello
As a player Capello was a solid midfielder dedicated to the traditional defensive style of Italian football but one of the 8 goals he scored in his 32 matches with the Azzura was exactly a winning goal against England at the Wembley Stadium. That was possibly the highlight of his playing career.

As a coach Capello collects successes. He managed AC Milan twice, Real Madrid twice, Juventus and Roma leading the teams to successful campaigns. Now the task is a little bigger: to transform England into a successful team.

Uniforms

Home: white shirt with blue trim, blue shorts

Away: red shirt with white trim, white shorts

Important Links

• http://www.thefa.com

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_national_football_team
• http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/
• http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/TheOrganisation/Postings/2004/03