MARGAO: Whenever England plays a major tournament, there is always great expectations. Whether it’s the junior or the senior side, the passion for the game in the country is such that they always want to do well. But as talented as their squad (senior) has been in the last few years, it has very rarely reflected on the field. But the junior sides off late, have been doing exceptionally well. But the growth kind of stalls after that. At least, that is what we have been seeing so far.
‘Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way,’ wrote Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. Though this was written a few decades back, it tells us about the culture and attitude of the people in England. But times have changed and so have the people. When England coach Steve Cooper addressed the media on Friday ahead of their quarterfinal against the USA that is what he stressed on. He didn’t seem desperate at all. He was very confident and sounded like a man who knew what he was doing.
“We want to be successful in any competition that we enter, especially in an event like this because it is a part of the English culture and heritage to have a winning mentality. We have a fantastic relation with the US federation. They are a very respectful opposition always and I hope it’s the other way around as well. Tomorrow, will be no different and it's a World Cup and it will be a strong game. But it is something that we want really because when you come to a World Cup, we want to test ourselves against the best,” Cooper said.
The sides have faced each other in some memorable matches in competitive events and friendlies over the years. But this is the first time that the U-17 sides are pitted against one another in a match of this magnitude. This is partly because of England’s failure to qualify for an U-17 tournament over the years. They have faced each other twice last year and both matches were drawn. This brings us to the question of penalties.
While England won the first shoot out of the tournament against Japan in their round of 16 clash, their history with spot kicks is not great. Even during the U-17 European Championships, they faced defeat against the Spaniards. But US coach John Hackworth feels that none of the things in the past really matter. “We play an attacking style of football. We have certain principles that we feel are very important for our player’s development. We would like to win in regulation. But we have practiced penalties. In 2016, we played two games against them and both of our matches ended up being tied. They won one and we won one (penalties),” Hackworth said.