Who/What is The Culprit, Now? Stories about England's Failure

source: (http://www.whoateallthepies.tv)

Lost to Italy at the quarterfinals of UEFA Euro 2012, has brought England to another failure while participating in a major tournament. That makes 46 years streak since The Three Lions won their one and only trophy. Although It’s said that “Defeat is a postponed victory,” but for English football fans, their date with destiny has been put on hold for way too long.
 

source: (http://cdn.theweek.co.uk)

Speaking of their trophy-less streak, I’ve found a unique behavior shown by the media regarding England’s failure. The media tends to have someone or something to blame for England’s early flight home from a major tournament. I suppose, this behavior first occurred in the UEFA Euro 1996. Here’s the further explanation:

source: (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk)

1. Football came home, but the trophy didn’t
   In the UEFA Euro 1996, England as the host were beaten by Germany in the semifinals by penalties. The media believed that the defeat was a continuing ‘curse’ from the previous penalty shootout against the Germans back at the 1990 World Cup semifinals. They didn’t point their fingers to some individual because they were sure that the players had given their best in the tournament. Only a ‘curse’ which comes from a spot kick that stopped the host to make the Henry Delaunay Trophy stays in the ‘home of football’. Funny thing is, in the quarterfinals, they beat Spain by penalties.
   
   
2. Stupid boy
   Failed to qualify to the 1994 edition, England returned to the World Cup stage in 1998. But yet, another penalty shootout forced them to take the early flight home. Argentina beat England in the round of 16 by penalties after a 2-2 draw in the 90+30 minutes. The media didn’t blame the ‘curse’, though. This time, they found someone to blame. A poor, stupid boy.

   

   source: (http://agusmanchunian.files.wordpress.com)

   
   The fact that this boy scored a remarkable free kick a couple of days earlier against Colombia was not enough to forgave his stupidity. A red card from the referee following an act of retaliation against Diego Simeone has brought David Beckham’s reputation in the eyes of English fans into the depths of misery. The next day, a famous headline published: “10 Heroic Lions, One Stupid Boy”, decorating a depiction of a neck hung player wearing England’s number 7 jersey.
   
   
3. Not good enough, Kev!

   

   source: (http://i.dailymail.co.uk)

   
   England found themselves in the same group with Germany at the UEFA Euro 2000, alongside Romania and Portugal. They started pretty well in the first match against Portugal, but only for the first 20 minutes. They took a 2-0 lead within that time, but couldn’t manage to secure that scoreline. Portugal struck back with 3 goals and beat them. They sought for a vengeance in the second match against Germany and they’ve done it by a single goal from Alan Shearer. Against Romania in the last match, they only needed 1 point to secure their place in the quarterfinals. The scenario went well through 88 minutes of the match before Phillip Neville’s late challenge brought down Viorel Moldovan inside his own penalty’s box. Ioan Ganea’s 89th minute penalty ended England’s campaign.
   The media blamed the manager Kevin Keegan’s strategy and his motivating ability. They found that the players couldn’t manage to keep their calm under pressure, and had an inconsistent performances. Keegan got fired a several weeks later, following another defeat from Germany in the last ever match played in the Old Wembley Stadium.
   
   
4. Seasoned Seaman

   

   source:(http://2.bp.blogspot.com)

   
   While Brazil and Germany struggled to qualify, England was named one of the strong contender to win the World Cup 2002 with Argentina and France. However, at the group stage, England showed yet another inconsistent performances. But a 1-1 draw against Sweden, a 1-0 win over Argentina and a 0-0 draw against Nigeria were enough to grant them the runner-up position. They showed a more promising performance in the round of 16 by beating Denmark 3-0. Brazil awaited them in the quarterfinals.
   Michael Owen brought England to lead after taking advantage of Lucio’s mistake. But at the end of the first half, Rivaldo equalized. The disaster came at the 50th minute. Brazil got a free kick about 35 meters outside England’s goal. Ronaldinho saw an opportunity and sent a curling lob ball into David Seaman’s top right corner. Seaman thought it was a cross. He miscalculated his timing and when the ball dropped, he was steps out of position. Although Ronaldinho was being sent off a couple minutes later, England failed to find the equalizer. The then 38 years old David Seaman declared his retirement from the national team a couple of days later, following the accusation from the media of being seasoned.
   
   
5. The WAGs virus

   

   source: (http://i.dailymail.co.uk)

   
   2 late goals from Zinedine Zidane defeated England in the UEFA Euro 2004 Group B opening match. Found themselves in a must win situation, they managed to secure the runner-up place of the group after beating Switzerland (3-0) and Croatia (4-2). The quarterfinal match against the host Portugal was one exhausting match. The 90 minutes ended with 1-1. Another 2 goals came in the second half of the extra time period. The match had to be concluded by penalties, and yet, the ‘curse’ was still not lifted. England had to taste another “bitter way of defeat.” Some people blamed the ‘curse’, but there’s more of them who blamed another pseudo-technical aspect. The media coined the term WAGs for Wives and Girlfriends. It was said that these WAGs disturbed the players’ concentration outside the pitch by gaining wide media exposure and making publicity stunts, which influenced the players’ performance on the pitch.  The WAGs felt that they weren’t being responsible for England’s failure. Regardless their defense, WAGs were being reputed as the “witches who cast the curse.” So for the next events, Sven Goran Eriksson made a regulation to keep the WAGs in distance with their beloved.


6. The Winker

   

   source: (http://i.dailymail.co.uk)

   
   England showed a better and more promising performance in their World Cup 2006 campaign. They secured their spot in the round of 16 after successfully won the first 2 matches. The last one against Sweden ended 2-2, so they had to face Ecuador in the first knockout stage. Beckham’s trademark free kick opened England’s path to the quarterfinals. The tournament structure confronted them with the side who defeated them 2 years earlier, Portugal.
   The match was a tight one. Clashes between players made it more tense, and it was culminated at the second half. An incident involving Wayne Rooney and Petit, brought the Portuguese to the ground screaming in pain. Rooney intended to show his sympathetic gesture to his victim, and out of nowhere, came his Man.United comrade Cristiano Ronaldo. At the time, Rooney was being given warning by the referee. Ronaldo interrupted the discussion by complaining to the referee concerning what Rooney had done to his teammate. Seeing Ronaldo tried to influence the referee’s decision, Rooney pushed the Portuguese number 17 away from the referee. Unfortunately, the referee judged Rooney’s gesture as “offensive” and awarded the England striker a red card. A couple of minutes later, a video replay showed that after Rooney’s sending off, Ronaldo made a provocative wink to his teammates. A wink that was being accused by the media as a way to say, “Job well done.” Months after the winking incident, Ronaldo still found himself mocked by the English fans, including the club where he served as player, Man. United.
   
   
7. Huge mistake
   Eriksson’s 5 years tenure as the England manager had ended. The FA appointed Steve McClaren as the Swede’s successor. His main objective was simple, to bring England to qualify to the UEFA Euro 2008. The assignment of McClaren valued from his work experience as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant, and also from his achievement with Middlesbrough. McClaren brought The Boro to their first ever European level final at the UEFA Cup final against Sevilla. He failed to bring home the trophy, though.

   

   source: (http://the4thofficial.co.uk)

   
   The UEFA Euro 2008 qualification placed McClaren’s England with Croatia and Russia. However, England’s performance under McClaren was considered as poor. A series of unfortunate events also caused England’s bad campaign. But the hope restored when the group’s last fixtures came. England just needed to be undefeated against Croatia in order to make their way to Austria-Switzerland. The fact that the match was being held at Wembley made the task seemed easier. But the result came out wrong, both for England and McClaren. Croatia defeated England at their own Wembley Stadium, while Russia secured their last 3 points against Andorra. Those results presented Steven Gerrard and co. to a longer summer 2008 holiday. A couple of days after the defeat, the FA sacked McClaren.
   
   
8. The Free State Goal

   

   source: (http://m24digital.com)

   
   Fabio Capello was named England manager to replace McClaren. Under the Italian, England managed to qualify smoothly to South Africa 2010. But when it came to the real tournament, England needed to struggle for their way to the knockout stage. A 1-1 draw against USA and a 0-0 draw against Algeria handed over a must win game against Slovenia. They eventually qualified after Jermaine Defoe scored a decisive goal. Once again, England has to face their most feared opponent, Germany, in the round of 16.

   

   source: (http://digitalis.nwp.org)

   
   
   England were down 0-2 within the first 32 minutes. Matthew Upson’s header reduce the German lead at the 37th minute. Came the 39th minute, the Germans finally had their revenge for the 1966 Wembley Goal. Frank Lampard’s volley struck the upright and bounced downward behind the goal line at about half meter. Instead of touching the inside net, the ball bounced outside and went back into playing area. Neuer secured the wild ball, while Lampard and any other English men and women inside and outside the Free State Stadium screamed, “Goal!”. There was no signal from the linesmen, and so, the ‘goal’ was unaccounted for. The decision brought down The Three Lions’ mentality, and the German found their way through to the quarterfinals after scoring 2 more goals. Everyone who fancied England that time, including the media, believed that if the goal was counted, England would’ve had the spirit to defeat the Germans. I myself, still doubt that, though. 

When Allesandro Diamanti’s spot kick found Joe Hart’s net, once again, England has failed. If this behavior remains, who or what is it going to be? I have 3 candidates for that: The ‘curse’, Roy Hodgson, and the Ashleys. What’s your opinion?

source: (http://static.stuff.co.nz)

source: (http://m.gmgrd.co.uk)