Showing all posts by Liam

England’s last 2 international matches has seen the team of Roy Hodgson claiming victories over Norway and Switzerland but even with this string of triumphs, the English squad has a lot more to do if they want to forget about their disastrous 2014 World Cup campaign.

Their victory against Norway was especially underachieving as the final scoreboard displayed 1-0 with the only goal of the entire match arriving from a penalty kick of Wayne Rooney. England certainly won the match but there still was signs of players that still have not been able to perform at the level that is requested by fans.

The head coach of Queens Park Rangers, Harry Redknapp is the latest football figure to express his opinion about what is going on regarding the English team as he said that the players of the squad simply do not care about what happens at the international stage.

Harry Redknapp said: ’’It is disappointment after disappointment. Half the players don’t give a toss. The fans can’t be bothered to watch them. Managers of the Premier League clubs take an interest just to see if their players are going to come back injured from international duty.

‘I don’t blame the supporters for not being interested in England at the moment. Why should they be?

‘’We were told this is the start of a new era. Trust me, I hope so, I really do, but I’m not holding my breath because it will only get harder for England with the way things are in club football. And what possible value is there in a total non-event against the worst Norway team we have seen for years when the supporters are still sore from the World Cup shambles?’’

UEFA recently revealed that Wembley was going to be serving as the host for the semi-finals and the finals of the 2020 Euro’s.

England will have the chance to perform in front of their own fans at their home soil and this will certainly excite supporters who are still waiting for players of England to stand up and live up to all the expectations that is being demanded.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard surprised everyone by announcing his retirement from international football with immediate effect. The England captain has been one of the finest players for the national team over the last decade. He is just one short of the record held by David Beckham for the most number of appearances made by an outfield player. Gerrard, though, has announced his retirement meaning that he will be unable to break Beckham’s impressive record of 115 caps for the national team. It was widely speculated that the 34-year-old would retire after World Cup 2014.

However, a poor World Cup meant that England suffered an exit from the group stages. It would have been possible for Gerrard to extend his career in order to go out on a high since England manager Roy Hodgson was especially keen on this aspect. He had made Gerrard the captain for the World Cup with former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard assisting him. Despite lowering the age of the squad considerably, Hodgson has been sticking with experienced players like Gerrard and Lampard.

After the early exit from the World Cup, questions have been asking about Hodgson, but Gerrard reckons that the former Liverpool manager is the ideal man to lead the national team going into the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

“I’m sure Roy will get the job right. I know things will turn around for the better. I know the players are upset and everyone has an opinion on England at the moment – it’s very negative. But I’m sure Roy will help making the England supporters proud again and change the way people are looking at this England team. He’s a fantastic manager and I’m glad the FA have stuck with him. He’s the man who fulfilled my childhood dream, made me England captain,” said Gerrard.

The United States came close to achieving a huge result by reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but they were defeated 2-0 by Belgium in extra time. Despite this defeat, manager Jurgen Klinsmann has claimed that the players can return home with their head held high. The US were put in the ‘group of death’ and they were not expected to even qualify for the knockout stages. However, they joined Germany as the two teams to qualify from the group. They almost reached the quarter-finals by beating Belgium.

For long periods of the match it looked like United States would frustrate Belgium and take the match into penalties. The US goalkeeper Tim Howard had an exceptional match and created a record for the most number of saves made in a single match. However, he could not prevent former Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne from opening the scoring in the first few minutes of extra time. Then, Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku confirmed Belgium’s passage into the quarter-finals with a late goal.

The US now return home, but not without making a mark at the competition. As a result of the great performances from the team, viewership figures in North America have soared. President Barack Obama personally called up Tim Howard to congratulate on his performance.

“I’m very proud of our team. Every player on the field made their country proud with this performance in this World Cup. We are doing everything we can in every corner of the country to find the talent. We will continue to grow and grow, We are looking for all Americans around the world, no matter what background they have. It’s all part of globalisation. We have to learn more and more, we are in that process,” said the former Germany manager after the last 16 exit.