"Wally with the Brolly": The Croatian flop will not haunt England without fear



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Steve McClaren Steve McClaren The England World Cup semi-final against Croatia brings back painful memories. It was after a match between the two teams more than a decade ago that he was nicknamed the "Wally with the Brolly".

In the pouring rain of a November evening at Wembley, England lost 3-2 against a Croats who had already secured their place in Austria and Switzerland for the Euro 2008, failing to qualify.

The McClaren image sheltered under the umbrella came to define England's latest disappointments on the international scene and Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic were on the winning side and continued to form the base of a talented midfielder who allowed a country with a population of just the contrary, not a single member of the team from England is in Russia after that Gareth Southgate put his faith in youth by bringing the third youngest "

" There was this FA umbrella that was lying around then I thought: "I'm going to use that, support the FA and stand at the dry! McClaren told the FourFourTwo magazine earlier this year.

"After thinking that I would be killed to wear a beanie (hat), instead I was killed to hold a brolly."

is not a canoe – just benches without cover. We had about eight staff members in Twente and each of them used an umbrella.

"When I went out, the manager of the team asked," Trainer, do you want an umbrella? "I said," No, I'll end up looking like a drowned rat on the bench of replacements, but I will not have an umbrella "."

DAYS OF L & D SHADOW FOR ENGLAND

The defeat of Croatia was only one of the overwhelming disappointments for a so-called "golden generation", including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard who never went beyond the quarterfinals of a major tournament. [19659003] Without the same hype or the same fanfare, the current crop of England has managed to conquer the hearts of a nation like never before.

Where the English manager was a fun figure, he is now a style icon – The Southgate match outfit saw vest sales in a country hit by World Cup fever.

Marks and Spencer, the team's official tailors, said Saturday that England badped Sweden 2-0 in the quarterfinals. like #NationalWaistcoatDay in the 47-year-old's honor.

T The manager's major decisions have also paid off. He managed to qualify for the top three and Jordan Pickford despite the inexperience of goalkeeper Everton.

Pickford made three big saves against Sweden after taking part in a first penalty shoot-out against Colombia at the World Cup. On the other hand, when McClaren launched Scott Carson for his competitive international debut against Croatia, a premature error saw Niko Kranjcar's long-range effort escape him and Carson never again played a competitive match for England

. what England lacks experience, they now compensate in a fearlessness that is completely at odds with the tension on and off the field that has blocked so many previous campaigns.

"We are focusing on ourselves, what is happening now, not what has happened in the past," said Ashley Young back. "We are looking forward to the future, we are creating our own stories."

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