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May 25, 2006
AS THE SOCCER BALL TURNS
England team is a real-life soap opera
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Michael Owen's recovery from a broken foot will go a long way toward shaping England's World Cup destiny.
Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images |
A popular television show running for years on British television called The Dream Team, chronicling the escapades of a fictional club soccer team in England called Harchester United and the sometimes steamy, controversial, comedic life of the players and team management.
The English National Team seems to be living a real-life version of the TV show.
Without naming names, consider these plots and sub plots:
The big star of the team, a nice chap with a whiny voice, but over hyped and overrated, is arguably the best known player in the world and is married to a former pop star and supposedly had an affair with his nanny.
The team's coach has an affair with the Football Association secretary, who sells her story to one of the British tabloids. And then he reveals his inner-most thoughts about the game to a stranger -- a tabloid newsman posing as a sheikh. The coach is forced to resign before his contract is up -- but is allowed to coach the team in the World Cup -- essentially becoming a lame-duck coach -- while a search is started for a successor.
The team, when it does play, is fairly successful, but makes major international headlines and puts its qualifying chances in jeopardy when it loses to Northern Ireland for the first time in 33 years.
Two key scoring stars get injured before the World Cup, putting their country's chances in jeopardy.
And of course, the national media, particularly the newspapers, somehow manages blow most of these events out of proportion, just as happy to build up an individual or player, just to set him up for a major take down.
And so it goes.
Sound familiar? It should.
Welcome to the English National Team, the best soap opera (or is it worst?) in all of international soccer.
In case you don't know the characters in question:
David Beckham is the player married to the former rock star.
Sven-Goran Eriksson is the amorous coach.
And of course, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney are those special goal-scorers trying to get healthy in time for Germany in June 2006.
Ah, Germany -- that's what it’s all about.
Despite all these distractions, England still is considered in some quarters to have a decent shot of winning it all.
This team is considered to be the best England has had to offer in years, especially with the Cup returning to the continent, where European countries traditionally do better than in the Americas or Far East. If the English don't do it this time, you have to wonder when they'll be able to take home a second world championship.
The English will hit an important milestone for the first one this summer -- 40 years on. Since 1966, England has been a World Cup disappointment, whether it has been falling short on booking a spot in the greatest show on earth or finding a way to stumble somewhere down the line, whether its shooting itself in its own foot or having some luck go against the team.
So, the pieces are in place for a glorious summer in Germany or a disappointing June swoon.
While no team is only one man, but a healthy and in-form Owen would go a long, long way. He has just turned 26, in the prime of his career for a striker (remember, Owen made his World Cup debut in spectacular fashion at France '98 eight years ago, although it seems he has been around forever).
Owen broke a metatarsal in his right foot in late December, 2005 during a collision with goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who managed to take out defender Wayne Bridge (injured ankle ligaments) in England's 3-2 World Cup warm-up win over Uruguay on March 1. Owen swore he would be back as soon as possible as he continued an incredible team jinx with broken metatarsals by key players such as David Beckham and Gary Neville (2002) and Rooney, whose fabulous Euro 2004 performance ended prematurely with the same exact injury.
In fact, Rooney broke his fourth metatarsal on his right foot was broken, possibly in several places during Manchester United's 3-0 road loss at Chelsea on April 29, shelving him for six weeks. Eriksson says he feels that Rooney will be back in time for England’s Cup opener vs. Paraguay on June 10.
Rooney, 20, the youngest player to make his England debut (at the age of 17) is the striker of the present and future. He has so much potential to do some serious damage, but his temperament is his greatest liability. If he is healthy enough to play, you have to wonder if he will wind up serving a yellow-card suspension (two cautions in separate matches) in Germany.
Of course, there's always the option of using 6-foot-7 Liverpool forward Terry Crouch as the ultimate target player in front of the opposition's net.
The well paid and much-maligned Beckham still can be a force in games, especially thanks to his swirling crosses into the box and his specialty -- free kicks. But Beckham might not be the most influential midfielder because Eriksson has a few hard workers and talents who can change the course of matches -- Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, although questions abound as to whether these two stars can play on the same team.
“Of course they can do it,” Eriksson told The Times of London. “But if we want to have one sitting midfield player then we have to find one. It’s one area which we are going to look at because maybe you need it at some stage in the World Cup.”
The bigger headache, however, could come on defense and in goal. Once the bastion of strength for the English national side, finding a competent goalkeeper has become a major challenge. The English Premiership is partially to blame because it employs some of the best keepers in the world, leaving many British keepers out in the cold, whether it is on the bench or in a lower division, where they can't develop and hone their skills against the best field players in the world.
Instead of getting the likes of Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton, who were very consistent, we get David Seaman, who misjudged Ronaldinho's free kick that turned out to be the deciding goal in the 2002 quarterfinals.
The best of the lot this time around is Paul Robinson, who plies his trade for Tottenham Hotspur. To give you an idea of the quality of keepers, one of Robinson's backups, David James, earned the nickname "Calamity James" for all his mishaps and misadventures in goal, although he has improved in recent years.
Questions abound on the backline. Manchester United star defender Rio Ferdinand served an eight-month suspension for forgetting to take a drug test. So there is always a specter of a drug test or his refusal to take one that might derail his travel plans. Arsenal's usually stable Sol Campbell, who went AWOL for a while this past winter, had to be told by Eriksson that he needed to be in top shape or be forced to watch the World Cup on TV.
There's so much talent and yet, there is so much that could go wrong.
Despite all the soap opera theatrics distractions, England does have one booster in its corner to win it all -- Pele, of all people. "Two teams from England, Italy and Brazil will be in the final," he said. "But if I have to name a team to win, I name Brazil. . . . England (has) a chance to be in the final. I have seen almost every one of their games during the last two years, and they have improved a lot. . . . Italy, Brazil and England have been the best teams during the last two years."
An interesting bit of information for you World Cup history buffs
Outside of the 1966 and 1990 competitions, England has compiled a rather mediocre and ordinary 14-12-10 record in nine other appearances.
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