Even the smaller opponents are now making digs, they did it in Frankfurt, and they did it recently in Cologne. “England, England, it’s never coming home,” sang Danes and Slovenians, saying that what the English are longing for so much, their first title since 1966, is nothing more than a bold dream.
Coach Gareth Southgate’s team is the clear favorite going into the duel with Slovakia in the round of 16 this Sunday (6 p.m., in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ZDF and on MagentaTV) in Gelsenkirchen – and yet the experts at home are wondering what that is even worth. The team has disappointed too much so far in this tournament, and it is too little clear what Southgate actually intends to do with them. It is no longer the big picture that the English are not getting on, it is also the little things.
On Thursday, attacker Anthony Gordon was seen at training with abrasions on his chin, nose and hands. He had fallen off his e-bike. Now there is a discussion about whether the bike trips should not be cancelled. “I’ve never sat on a bike like that before,” said Ezri Konsa, the 26-year-old defender: “It’s strange, you can pick up speed. It has a turbo button, so you press it and when you pedal, it just gets faster. It must have been a bad fall. I think he pressed the wrong brake – and he just took off.”
Better listen to Avril Lavigne than watch England
This doesn’t seem to have harmed the mood in the team. “It was fun,” said Konsa. Even without a bike, Gordon is one of the fastest Englishmen in the squad and is considered to have a good chance of being in the starting line-up against Slovakia.
At the music festival in Glastonbury they don’t want to show the England game: Avril Lavigne draws moreAFP
Recently, a lot of things have been thrown into disarray: Harry Kane is not finding his game, and doubts about his fitness are growing. Jude Bellingham started this tournament brilliantly, but after the first half and his goal against Serbia, he was hardly seen again; Bukayo Saka was usually the one who made the difference under Southgate, but has not been able to confirm that so far, and Phil Foden recently made headlines mainly because he flew home before the round of 16 because he became a father for the third time. He is now back with the team and could move from the left wing to the center against Slovakia, making room for Gordon.
Since England finished first in Group C, the team moves into the supposedly easier half of the table: In the quarter-finals, they could face Italy or Switzerland, and in the semi-finals, the Netherlands and Austria are two of the possible opponents.
And in the final? Maybe the Slovenians again, like in the 0:0 draw in the preliminary round? “What could possibly go wrong?” mocks the Guardian. “No wonder the rest of the world admires the English so much.” It is: biting mockery. At the music festival in Glastonbury this weekend, they do not want to show the England game. Avril Lavigne is due to make her big appearance at the same time – that promises more.
