Izuchukwu OkosiWith barely a week to the big kick off of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Prime Business Africa presents profiles of the teams heading to the 32nd edition of the tournament. Today we focus on England, the 1966 World Cup winners, England, the seeded team.
This preview is vastly sourced from the official FIFA website.
ENGLAND
Semi-finalists in 2018, runners-up at UEFA EURO 2020, can England continue that upwards trajectory by topping the podium at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™?
They certainly have the talent, with Harry Kane – adidas Golden Boot winner at the last FIFA World Cup™ – heading up a squad of largely young, gifted and, crucially, tournament-hardened players.
Further encouragement was gleaned from the Qatar 2022 qualifiers, as Gareth Southgate’s side emerged unbeaten from a section that included Poland and Hungary, scoring more goals (39) than any other European team.
And while the EURO ended with another heart-breaking shootout defeat, the hugely impressive campaign that preceded those penalties – including wins over the likes of Croatia, Germany and Denmark – strengthened the Three Lions’ World Cup credentials.
Doubts have been sown more recently though. A series of lacklustre performances this year – including a shock 4-0 home loss to the Hungarians – dented fans’ confidence and resulted in UEFA Nations League relegation.
They have also left Southgate with plenty to ponder ahead of the big kick-off.
England’s Group B fixtures
21 November
England vs IR Iran (16:00 local time, Khalifa International Stadium)
25 November
England vs USA (22:00 local time, Al Bayt Stadium)
29 November
Wales vs England (22:00 local time, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium)
Southgate’s approach and tactics
When Southgate took charge, England were at a low ebb. A group-stage exit at the 2014 World Cup had been followed by an ignominious last-16 loss to Iceland at the European Championship, and there were few signs of better to come.
But while he was not deemed an inspiring choice to lead that much-needed revival, the former centre-half – in his typically measured and understated way – set skilfully about this formidable task.
Younger players were introduced and systems tweaked, but just as important was changing the hostile, highly-pressurised atmosphere around the squad.
Southgate was determined to lighten what Fabio Capello, one of several high-profile and unsuccessful predecessors, had described as the “heaviness” of the England shirt.
It worked. Southgate also proved himself to be an adaptable tactician, moving on from the 3-5-2 that served him and England so well in Russia to employ 3-4-3 and, latterly, 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations that exploited the attributes of emerging talents.
However, with the Three Lions’ back four having been exposed so brutally by Hungary in this year’s UEFA Nations League encounters, Southgate may well be considering yet another tactical formula for Qatar 2022.
Key player: Harry Kane
No-one has ever topped the scoring charts at separate FIFA World Cups but, as things stand, Kane is the bookmakers’ favourite to do just that.
The England captain’s consistently impressive scoring rate for both club and country explain those low odds, and it would be a major shock not to find him among the goals in Qatar.
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No-one in Europe scored more during the 2022 qualifiers than the 29-year-old, who ended the campaign having accumulated 12 goals in just eight appearances – one every 49 minutes. If Kane enjoys another golden World Cup, it could well prove decisive in nudging England ahead of their fellow title contenders.
The adidas Golden Boot was first awarded to the top goalscorer of the tournament in 1982 under the name Golden Shoe. It was renamed Golden Boot in 2010. Runners-up are awarded the adidas Silver Boot and adidas Bronze Boot awards respectively.
One to watch: Bukayo Saka
Imagine missing a penalty to cost your team a European title at the age of just 19? That was the unthinkable fate that befell Bukayo Saka last year, and it is the ultimate tribute to the Arsenal youngster’s mentality that he already succeeded in shrugging off that setback.
The winger has been in sparkling form for his club, and Southgate is an unabashed admirer. “He’s a fantastic talent. And he’s a fabulous kid,” the England coach has said of Saka. “If your daughter brings Bukayo home, you’d be more than happy!
“He’s one that’s possibly less appreciated. His profile isn’t quite the same as some of our other attacking players. He just quietly goes about his job. But I think you see the consistency of his performances and quality of his play. We think he’s a super player.”
Qatar 2022 could well be the stage on which Saka justifies that faith and shows the world just how super he is.
Finishing fourth at the last World Cup was England’s best showing since ending up with an identical ranking at Italia 90.
The only time they have fared better, of course, was in 1966. That triumph on home soil remains the high point of the nation’s football history, with Sir Geoff Hurst still the only man in history to have scored a World Cup final hat-trick.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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