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Fear factor long gone as England embrace Iceland reunion
LONDON, Sept 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Iceland will forever bear a scar for
English football after an embarrassing exit at Euro 2016 to a country with a
population of less than one percent than the pool on offer to the Three
Lions.
Four years on, the nations meet on Saturday in the Nations League for the
first time since that fateful night in Nice with the visitors in Reykjavik
much changed in personnel and mentality.
Only six of the squad from Euro 2016 remain.
Among them captain Harry Kane, 27, and Raheem Sterling, 25, are now the
senior figures in a squad filled with youth, flair and far less fear than the
side that were wracked by self-doubt after falling 2-1 behind just 18 minutes
into that famous defeat to Iceland.
Phil Foden, 20, and Mason Greenwood, 18, have been handed their first
senior call-ups after impressing for Manchester City and Manchester United
respectively since football returned from the coronavirus shutdown in June.
They could be two of the beneficiaries of the delay to the European
championships for a year with England one of the favourites for a tournament
they will largely play on home soil next summer.
“They are realistic challengers,” said England boss Gareth Southgate on
Foden and Greenwood’s prospects for Euro 2020.
For most other nations and even many years in England’s recent past, they
would be certainties.
But both have to fight their way into one of the most star-studded front
lines in international football already boasting Kane, Sterling, Greenwood’s
Manchester United teammate Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho of Borussia
Dortmund, who has also been linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer
for more than œ100 million.
“If you are within football then you have known about these two young
players for a long time,” Southgate added.
“You only have to speak with their clubs. We have known from our junior
teams with England, the impact that they have had. Then the question is at
what point do you give them the step up to play.
“We’re a year away from a European Championship, let’s see if they can
start to break into that team and into that squad. It gives us great
competition for places.”
Neither player seems to lack confidence when it comes to making an impact
on international football.
Greenwood has been hailed by former England greats Alan Shearer and Wayne
Rooney for his ability to finish clinically off either foot that saw him
score 19 goals in his breakthrough season for United.
Shearer has claimed his record of 260 Premier League goals could be under
threat and Greenwood did not shy away from that target when he faced the
media this week.
“Any young football player would want to break records – and if you didn’t,
there’s something wrong,” he said.
“It’s always nice to have visions and goals you set in your football career
and that goes for virtually any England forward, really.
“Just go out there and do your best and break records and just be
remembered forever.”
Foden also has lofty ambitions as he admitted he hopes to be the man to
fill David Silva’s shoes at City next season.
Named player of the tournament when England won the under-17 World Cup
three years ago, Foden also differs from previous generations that have
failed to live up to expectations by already experiencing success at
international level.
He and England’s new generation still have to prove themselves at senior
level, but they are providing far more cause for optimism than the crop that
will forever be remembered for crumbling to Iceland.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0909 hrs