Guardian and Observer Editorial

The Guardian | Monday July 3 2006 7 rld Cup Xxxxxx v Xxxxx Frank Lampard’s penalty, saved by Portugal’s Ricardo, set the tone for England’s shoot-out failure and completed a miserable World Cup campaign for Chelsea’s midfielder Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images Overpaid and over here, Eriksson and his spoilt players got what they deserved — absolutely nichts culture of complacency at work, and it family in Canada. They succeeded, and in of six or seven seconds, play it — not could be seen in the climactic shoot-out so doing may have laid the mental Hargreaves happy at always accurately — to a team-mate. against Portugal, when three of England’s foundation for his son’s career. Owen Har- winning over fans By the time he was ready to part with penalty takers failed with attempts in greaves arrived in Munich as a 16-year-old the ball, two things would have happened: which the slackness of their body lan- and began a long struggle to establish him- first, his team-mates had effectively come guage and their shooting spoke of men self among the superstars in the first team The defeat will leave painful to a standstill; second, the Portuguese who were ready to put their trust in the at Bayern, in a country where he knew no memories but England’s World Cup defenders had been given the time to belief, as England players have believed one and had to learn the language from exit against Portugal may still be move in to cover them. So almost every Richard Williams for several generations, that their reputa- scratch. When times were difficult, when looked upon with some fondness by England move would start from a static tions alone would be enough to ensure he was dropped or suffered injuries, his Owen Hargreaves, who appears to position, with the opposition well pre- Baden-Baden their success. parents’ example of ambition and self- have finally won over the boo-boys in pared for counter-measures. A successful apprenticeship in the sufficiency can have done him no harm. the stands. Fans were chanting his Although Ferdinand is a decent passer upper reaches of English football wraps Hargreaves may also have benefited name after an inspirational of the ball, he is not Andrea Pirlo. Neither In the aftermath of a punishing defeat, no such an effective comfort blanket around from the Bundesliga’s 34-match season performance and the Bayern Munich is Hargreaves, but he should have been man should be called to account for his a young player that he is seldom exposed and its mid-winter break. Whereas he midfielder was the only England encouraged to become the kind of pivot impromptu remarks. But when Frank to the harsh realities of the outside world, faced up to Portugal’s challenge with what player to score from the spot in the that Claude Makelele represents for Lampard said on Saturday night that and never confronts those moments in the English like to see as their character- shoot-out. Chelsea and France, taking the ball from England had “deserved” to win the match which failure really does mean disaster. istic qualities of energy and doggedness, His acclaim in Gelsenkirchen was the defence and recycling it to the mid- in which defeat had just eliminated them When they are called to summon reserves his native-born team-mates struggled to in stark contrast to the jeers that field with the minimum of fuss or wasted from the World Cup, he was inadvertently of resilience at moments of extreme turn their talent and desire for success greeted him when he came on as a time, acting as the team’s metronome. exposing the problem at the heart of the pressure, they discover those reserves into the currency of coherent football. substitute against Hungary at Old Then England might have had a chance to team’s consistent inability to scale the either do not exist or have been depleted Individually, there was much to admire Trafford and in England’s first match develop the kind of rhythm and move- highest peaks. by the demands of domestic football. in their display — in Ashley Cole’s gradual in Germany against Paraguay. ment that we sometimes see from Arse- David Beckham had used the same Where, on Saturday, was the English- return to form, in John Terry’s obduracy, “Someone told me after the game nal, Chelsea and, less frequently nowa- word earlier in the campaign. England man prepared to take control of the game in Aaron Lennon’s zigzag runs and in Peter that the England fans were chanting days, Manchester United, but at which would get to the World Cup final, the as Zinédine Zidane would do in France’s Crouch’s sheer willingness — but collec- my name and that was a brilliant English-born players in general have never captain said, because they “deserved” to defeat of Brazil later that night? The only tively they could only demonstrate the thing to happen when, before and been adept. be there. Since no deeper analysis was candidate was Owen Hargreaves, who difficulty they experience in achieving, at the beginning of the tournament, When the Football Association hired forthcoming, his listeners were left to both converted his penalty — the one Eng- even sporadically, the kind of momentum there was a bit of criticism,” said Eriksson as England’s first foreign coach, infer that the evidence in support of his lishman to do so — and secured the man- that the better sides in this tournament Hargreaves, who broke down in it was reasonable to expect that an contention might have included any or all of-the-match award with 120 minutes of have maintained virtually from first tears at the final whistle. improvement in fluidity was among the of the following: England’s historic role as non-stop tackling, intercepting, running whistle to last. “It’s brilliant how the crowd benefits the players could expect from his the game’s mother country; the vast and passing. Alone among his colleagues, Permutating his resources for the fifth have turned and I’m very happy long experience in Italy and Portugal. All popularity of the Premiership at home and he displayed a dynamism that seemed to time in five matches as he responded to about that. It’s what you work for they got, really, was a swift application of abroad; the inflated pay and celebrity come from within. What also makes him the opposition’s strengths and his own as a footballer. The fans are crucial common sense to a formerly chaotic status of its players; and the attention unique among the squad, of course, is that squad’s injuries, Eriksson asked Har- and our supporters are the best in selection policy and a discovery that lavished on the public appearances of he has never lived in England. The two greaves to provide a screen for the defence the world and for them to chant my Eriksson’s notion of an acceptable their wives and girlfriends. things may not be unconnected. while a midfield quartet attempted to sup- name is a dream come true for me. standard of living matched their own five- When Sven-Goran Eriksson also spoke Before Hargreaves was born, his par- port Wayne Rooney, the lone front runner. Football is a daily business, you’ve star expectations. about the team “deserving” to reach the ents left Britain to make a new life for their That it took the coach so long to reach this got to take the good with the bad, His inability to get Englishmen to play final, he tried to suggest that it was conclusion, after having Hargreaves in his but I was just focused on doing the football together with a combination of because of the quality of their football. squad for almost five years, is among the job asked of me.” spontaneity and consistency means that, Strictly on the basis of their successive most serious indictments of his regime. Gary Neville joined the fans in after its promising start, the Eriksson era performances against Hungary, Jamaica, England only showed the The fatal flaw in the way the formation singing the midfielder’s praise. must on balance be accounted a failure. Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden and was applied was the use of Rio Ferdinand “Owen Hargreaves gave an incredible Sadly, given the unfailing courtesy with Ecuador, however, it would have taken a difficulty they have in as the launchpad for attacks. On countless performance,” he said. “I think it was which he confronted an often hostile battalion of the world’s finest legal advo- achieving the momentum occasions the ball was given to the centre- amazing the way Owen and Peter environment, he was not the man to dis- cates to make a case for the justice of their back in the expectation that he would Crouch came back from just six mantle the mental barrier that prevented arrival in the final rounds of the biggest of the better sides here make the first significant pass. He would weeks ago when they were booed on his players from turning their talents into international football tournament of all. take a touch to control the ball, look up, to pitches with England. Everything real achievement at international level. In The attitude represented by the words take another touch, look up again, have about his performance was right.” PA the end they, and he, deserved no more of Lampard and Beckham represents a another think and then, after a delay often than they got..

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