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P ick for a moment. There have been so many to choose from in this unexpected and joyful World Cup. Harry Kane, winner of stoppage time against Tunisia. Jordan Pickford's penalty gap against Colombia. Shoot shot shotout Eric Dier a few moments later. Harry Maguire's head in the quarter-finals. Kyle Walker and Jesse Lingard dance like idiots in front of the fans.
But there is one that exceeds all others. One of them so emblematic could be overshadowed only by Kane raising the trophy in Moscow on Sunday. He came after England had just won its first penalty shoot-out in a World Cup. After congratulating his own players, England manager Gareth Southgate took the time to look for Mateus Uribe, the Colombian player whose defeat led to victory, and to hug him for the first time. to console
. a random act of sensitivity and compbadion – although these qualities are not enough in English football, but also in world football, to have made them remarkable on their own. It was one of empathy. It was Southgate 's missed penalty against Germany which had been the fall of England in the 1996 European Championship. He knew what it was that was wrong. to be the man who ruins the dreams of a nation. For being the man who ended up as the fall guy in a Pizza Hut advertisement. His arm around Uribe 's shoulder was not a casual and fleeting gesture: it was a speech that spoke of a deep personal understanding.
Still more, however, it was a moment of grace. Life is a messy business that offers little obvious chance for redemption. Failures and disappointments are usually rewritten or absorbed into lives that, one way or the other, confuse as best as they can. Southgate has been granted a sense of closure of Hollywood. The opportunity to channel his own experience of desperation into a triumph for his team, in front of a global audience of about a billion people. From zero to hero
Mateus Uribe, coach of Southgate and Colombia, José Pékerman. Photography: Carl Recine / Reuters
As Dier's penalty came into play, England went noisily stealthily. What the country had learned from the 22 years of pain since the last penalty shoot-out (against Spain in Euro 96) was that the right reaction was to scream loudly, to be pissed or to roll in. the streets. What Southgate had learned from all the experience was a basic feeling of decency. That night, he showed a nation how to behave. Nothing surprising that the few remaining people who were not already a little in love with the English manager collapsed happily in his embrace at that time.
This has never been the case. After all, it was Sam Allardyce who had been tasked with the position of England 's manager after the country' s disastrous performance in 2016. He was later accused of advising men of all kinds. business on how to "get around" the rules on player transfers and use its role for a financial benefit – Allardyce continues to deny the allegations. Given the performance of England in Russia, we should deeply thank the Daily Telegraph for the investigation. Southgate, in charge of the under-21 team from England at the time, was hastily replaced and termed "interim manager".
Nobody expected much from Southgate. Not even the Football Association, whose president, Greg Dyke, said in 2016 that English football was in such a desperate state that no one should dream of real success before the 2022 World Cup at the earliest. Southgate, known for missing a penalty and being sacked as manager of Middlesbrough, was right there to fill the gaps. English players after their defeat to Uruguay at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil "src =" https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2e03554c9d60bcb01ed086d3bbf4c54a26b78009/0_0_5184_3110/master/5184. jpg? w = 300 & q = 55 & size = & Auto uSM = 12 & did = & s = max 3d13c20c1be4616d28e1204ef78961da "/>
English players after their defeat to Uruguay at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Photo: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
Even in the perspective of this World Cup, expectations have remained at their lowest. Normally, at the approach of a major tournament, the media react quickly with unrealistic hype about how the team could finally end X years of suffering, only for titles over more bitter – with the manager and the players the dreams are not realized.
This time, nothing. Nada. It was almost as if everyone was fed up with football. The way Russia became the host nation still stung, fans were advised to stay away because of threats of violence and Putin's repressive regime and no one – even jokingly – was expecting seriously to what England prays. After decades of hopeless hope, pragmatic desperation had set in. It was a tournament we already knew the end of. England would do well to break out of the group stages. And, if they did, they would lose on penalties in the first round of knockout matches. It was written in the stars.
All of this was perfect for Southgate. He had never been one of the egomanians who dominated football for much of the past 30 years. He knows that there is more to life than playing and created the space to spend a lot of time with his wife, Alison, and their two children, Mia and Flynn. So he was more than happy to slide under the radar and create a team in his image.
In the past, England seemed to be a team of only name. A two-tier collection of so-called stars, like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, with random individuals that make up the numbers. No wonder they fought. Southgate has made a virtue of necessity – England is, thankfully, completely out of big-ego players right now – and has chosen a team where Harry Kane is the only player to be even the biggest name of his Premier League club. And even he looks like someone who is just delighted to be part of the England setup and not someone who is doing his country any favors.
Southgate plays for England in 1996. Photography: Bernd Lauter / Bongarts / Getty
Southgate is blessed with the rare gift – in football, in particular – of emotional intelligence. This is what makes it emblematic of a modern and outward-looking man. He trusts his players. He encourages them to take responsibility for their own actions. He helps them to tell their own stories. To be known to themselves and those around them.
Throughout the year, left-back Danny Rose suffers from a depression that he had hidden after sustaining an injury: Southgate helped him to to come to terms with him. public ("England has been my salvation and I can not thank enough the director and medical staff," he told reporters). It was as close to therapy as football. Recognizing the possibility of failure, he made success more likely. The ball of fear that weighed heavily on the English game was lifted.
Even better, Southgate gives the example. He does not just talk about the conversation, he walks the walk. He believes in the importance of the family and encouraged Fabian Delph to return home for the birth of his child. The player missed the team's winning match against Colombia, but was back to replace Saturday's quarter-final against Sweden. A World Cup may come back, but being present at the birth of your child is a unique opportunity in life. Southgate is an open book and takes responsibility for its own actions. The previous managers may have thrown a ball and blamed someone else when a piece of paper, which seemed to contain tactical notes, found its way into the hands of the press before the Panama match . Southgate took the shot, said the media was just doing their job and continued. What could have slipped into the siege mentality between players and the outside world was immediately defused.
Everyone in the team knows their place and understands their role within it. The deployment of a team close to the second force for the group match against Belgium was an act of insight and inspiration. This is not because the defeat of England was a place in what seemed to be the easiest side of the draw, but because it offered clarity to the rest of the game. 39; team. They knew that they had the chance to apply for a regular starting place of 11, but they had not been good enough to take it. Southgate had demonstrated his impartiality and that he had no favorites. Too often in tournaments, reserve players can become disgruntled and undermine the unity of the entire team. Now, there is a real sense of unity. Success can engender its own success, but that is Southgate who lit the spark
Members of the England team at a training session in Zelenogorsk near St. Petersburg last month. Photography: Eddie Keogh / TheFA / Rex / Shutterstock
And this is not just a team that Southgate inspired. It is England as a whole. By the time the government fights like rats in a sack, and trusts the political clbad to act in the best interests of the country rather than their own party is at an all-time low, Southgate has shown what it is to have integrity. To get up and be counted.
When a lot of people in the country are obsessed with cheating on who on Love Island, he has demonstrated that you can act with humanity and decency towards others. He showed us who we could be. A better us. A nation that can look at triumph and disaster in the face and treat them both in the same way. (Although this nation is definitely used to dealing with triumph and prefers not to have to think about disaster for a while, thanks.) Football could come home, but Gareth and his team will stay in Russia for another week .
