Gareth Southgate England lost his old baggage and offers reasons to believe | Daniel Taylor | Soccer

It is in those days, if you've ever seen the stand-up routine of Henning Wehn, that you may remember that part of his act, probably the only German on the English comedy circuit, would go out on stage with a replica of the World Cup trophy. Back in Germany, explained Wehn, everyone kept one. And then he held him tense towards his audience, teasing them, asking them if they understood how nice it was to hold him, caress him near his chest. Someone wants a touch? "That," he said, "is the closest you'll get there."

Maybe that stays and England will find a way to create a World Cup outing that would be more consistent with the team is generally perceived. The time, for example, in 2002 when Guus Hiddink led South Korea to the semifinals and accused the European teams of being too defensive and too scared, noting that "England was the worst" . Or the occasion, perhaps, when Adriana Sklenarikova, the Slovak model Wonderbra, gave her opinion. "Tony Blair is very handsome, but unfortunately he has no bravado," she said. "Same thing with the football team of England."

There is also another scenario to consider now that the World Cup is open so inviting and it is possible to talk about England's chances of reaching the final without reckless fear. . These opportunities are rare. Of course, the people concerned will wonder what can be achieved when the winner of Saturday's match against Sweden will meet Russia or Croatia for a place in the final. Of course, it should be allowed to say that England are true contenders without attracting the kind of looks that would usually indicate that it might be time to make themselves felt.

Not everyone is obviously ready to recognize this point. Håkan Mild, the former Swedish international, is one of them. It will be remembered that Mild was one of the victims of Paul Scholes in the game in 1999 when the Manchester United player became the first English international to be sent off to Wembley. Perhaps he still keeps a grudge. "These are spoiled kids who make a lot of money," he said. "They do not have the desperation [hunger] needed.This could not be a better draw.They think they are so good but they are not."

It does not have to be a better draw. It has not always been easy to defend English football against allegations of arrogance – not when the Football Association keeps a clock in St George 's Park to count the seconds until it' s time. England appears to win the 2022 World Cup – but Mild misses the point s' he is trying to portray Sweden's opponents as prima donnas.

Tuesday, before the game against Colombia, Gareth Southgate's speech focused on the background of his players and what they had in common. The story of Jordan Pickford included a loan spell for Darlington when they were relegated to the conference, followed by a stint at Alfreton Town. Jamie Vardy has his tales of Fleetwood Town. Harry Maguire was in Ligue 1 with Sheffield United. Dele Alli knew the lower leagues with MK Dons and Harry Kane's lending spells included Leyton East and Millwall. And so on. These could be exceptionally wealthy men, but many of these players have made their way. This is not an ego-free environment, by any means, but there is also no great-time attitude that existed in other teams around the world. England. To say that they are hungry is, frankly, absurd.

Southgate summed it up with clarity in explaining the reasons for his team talk and, in particular, why the background of the players are so fundamentally important to the success of England. "I told them about where they all started and different clubs," he said. "You have to be warned, you have to be tactically aware because that's what makes the difference in big matches, but they also have a sense of humility about them, we work hard for each other, we do not wear anyone. They are all ready to graft each other and dig for each other, I know these are old-fashioned qualities, but we do not have the right to walk on land. We play with the character and I love it. "

The most important part is knowing how to take care of a football, but Southgate did another good point when he talked about the current set of players no longer burdened with chess and the stigma of previous English teams. Maybe we in the media can be guilty of looking back too often. Pickford just looked puzzled when someone asked if the England shootout win must have extra personal significance for Southgate. "What do you mean?" Asked the guard. Because there was one missing in the day? Pickford (two years old at the time): "What was it, 96?"

Southgate's reference to MASH when he mentioned the number of players needing of a treatment was another reminder of the vagueness of time. "I do not know what it is," Alli said. It's a different generation, children of the 21st century in many cases. As Southgate keeps saying, it's the most inexperienced group of players in the competition and, for the most part, they do not really care if their predecessors have lost six of their previous seven shootings.

The English shooters started their rehearsal friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy in March and will continue to do the same at each training session as long as they are in it. tournament. Often this routine means telling the goalkeeper where he is aiming his shot, the idea being that the only way to score would be to produce what Marcus Rashford described as "the perfect penalty".

Southgate has found other ways to put players under pressure by holding competitions in which players scream and laugh at killing each other. But this little pleasure aside, it's a more professional configuration than usual. Each player agreed to have psychometric tests to help Southgate establish his list, from one to 23. The FA even commissioned a study to look at their previous failures and the results revealed that English players were taking less time with their blows than any other nation. Tuesday, no one rushed.

The cohesion of the England team could be summed up by the sight of goalkeepers Jack Butland and Nick Pope, gathered in a TV room to watch, obviously delighted, the pickford occasions. saves. He was encapsulated in the embrace between Jordan Henderson, one of the English penalty shooters not to score, and Pickford – "Jesus, I've helped you out there, lad," says the guardian – and again, even if it was just silly Few thing, the way John Stones slipped behind Raheem Sterling, half interview, to move his ears.

Sterling was talking to a group of football writers the moment one of the Colombian coaches challenged him at halftime. . "There were many times when I went for a drink and he kept saying something, I just remember running and he came forward in front of me."

At one point, Yerry Mina, the biggest player in Colombia, found himself in the back of Sterling – "look at the force!" Sterling Plaisant – and there were other things to the distance from the cameras. "There was one of their guys who was holding my ribs, I do not know how it was possible, but he was holding my ribs." Sterling laughs again, Southgate, he said, had explicitly warned them players not to be provoked and England, to a man, followed these instructions.