England break from past by learning from mistakes to overcome Croatia
Among the many painful aspects of England’s failings over the last three decades has been the tendency of the most promising teams to repeat the same mistakes tournament after tournament.
At both the 2004 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup, Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side departed on penalties to Portuguese opponents who, while gifted, outsmarted more than they outplayed naive England.
At Euro 96 and the World Cup two years later, England also lost on spot-kicks after emotionally draining and chaotic clashes with historic rivals in Germany and Argentina that they could and perhaps should have won.
An inability to learn from previous mistakes has been a fatal flaw, so the prospect of Croatia, who spoiled England’s summer of love-in just as the World Cup final beckoned four months ago, blocking the path to a place in next year’s inaugural National League Finals had all the makings of another sobering occasion.
Victory would see England win Group A4; anything else and they would likely be relegated. Croatia, meanwhile – like Portugal in the Eriksson era – represent a sort footballing kryptonite for Gareth Southgate’s men: technically excellent but with a grit and cunning too often lacking in England teams.
When Andrej Kramaric’s shot ricocheted off Eric Dier and looped over the desperate, grasping dive of Jordan Pickford, then, a familiar sinking feeling set in. Football was not, in fact, coming home and – in the words of that song – England were going to blow it again.
The sense of mistakes being repeated had been heightened by an eerily familiar first half in which Southgate’s men again kept Croatia on the ropes only to fail to take advantage of a slew of chances.
In one five-minute spell, Raheem Sterling shot straight at goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic when clean through, Harry Kane missed the target with a close-range chance from the resulting corner and then England’s captain, whose misses in the semi-final also proved costly, saw an effort cleared that had been goal-bound with Kalinic stranded.
But then something unusual happened. Southgate’s side did not collapse at the sight of Kramaric putting Croatia in front, nor did they lose their heads in pursuit of an equaliser and conceded further. They patiently probed until they equalised and then, with a growing sense of inevitability, scored a winner. In short, England ripped up the script.
That they overcame a previous obstacle suggests a psychological resolve that deserted their predecessors at crucial moments. It also demonstrates that Southgate and his players have not rested on the laurels of the country’s best World Cup finish for 28 years.
Next June’s Nations League Finals in Portugal offers another chance to showcase the development of this team. Beyond that, Euro 2020, much of which will be held at Wembley, must be seen as their best chance of tournament success since 1996.
As 2018 draws to a close, however, it is more than enough that England have not only emerged as a vibrant new presence in the international arena but also shown that, unlike generations past, they can learn from their most wounding setbacks.