Given the expectations that it has created in this European Championship, England cannot fail this Sunday (13h00 GMT) in its debut in the tournament against Croatia and will have its scorer and captain Harry Kane to try to overcome the current world runner-up.
Twenty-five years after organizing ‘their’ Eurocup (1996) and the frustration caused by the elimination in the semifinals against Germany on penalties, the English again aspire to win for the first time a tournament that they will play again ‘at home’ almost in their whole.
The three games of the first phase, plus the crossing of the round of 16 (if they finish leaders of group D), the semifinal and the final, in case of overcoming the different instances: the English would play all these duels at Wembley, the The same scenario in which the ‘Three Lions’ won the 1966 World Cup, their only major international title so far.
Top scorer (23) and assistant (14) in the Premier League this season, despite the ups and downs throughout the season that Tottenham suffered, Kane will be the banner of an offensive squad that the rest of the European teams would like, except surely France.
Coach Gareth Southgate will have to turn his head around when he has to choose between Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish or Phil Foden.
The only one who seems to have the permanent position is Captain Kane, the most effective and deadly of all the English forwards.
– Superman or Ghostbusters? –
With 34 goals and 13 assists in 54 international appearances, his athletic presence (1.88m) and the gunpowder of his boots reassures the English fans, who trust their captain to go far in the tournament.
Although for this, Kane will have to hunt some ghosts, such as 1996, but also the humiliating elimination in France-2016 against modest Iceland in the round of 16 (2-1).
Also the ghosts of the fiascos in the debuts: England have never won their first game of the Eurocup (five draws and four losses).
And it will also have to make forget the players called to be the mainstays of this selection and who are out due to injury (like Trent Alexander-Arnold) or who arrive far from their best form such as central Harry Maguire or midfielder Jordan Henderson.
In addition, Kane will have to put his personal situation on hold for a few weeks to focus on the national team, although the fact of not knowing where he will play next season (the forward wishes to leave Tottenham) could end up affecting him.
There are even those who also doubt their leadership ability. “The only thing I would reproach Kane for, his big negative point … I don’t think he’s a good leader,” Manchester United captain Roy Keane recently declared.
– Doubts about your leadership ability –
“I never saw him face anyone with Spurs. I know people are going to tell me ‘It doesn’t suit his personality’ or ‘maybe he does it in the locker room’. I don’t think he does and that’s a big problem.” added the former Irish player.
“OK, you can set an example through the game, but sometimes, I would like to see another aspect of Kane, I would like to see him shake someone,” insisted Keane, known for his punches and fighting on the court, even with his own classmates.
In that repetition of the semifinal lost in extra time (2-1) of the World Cup in Russia – another demon to exorcise – the English will have to demonstrate their progression in these last three years.
Croatia, led by an aging Luka Modric (35 years old) but still indispensable both in his national team and with Real Madrid, is in a transition phase.
The Balkan team can count on experienced players who know England well, such as Mateo Kovacic (27 years old), Champions of the Champions League with Chelsea, or Dejan Lovren, who was with Liverpool in 2019.
Despite the fact that the coach Zlatko Dalic tries to calm his fans and lower the aspirations in this tournament, the ‘Valtreni’ want the English to maintain their bad streak in their debuts in the big tournaments.
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