New-look England are embracing the joys of a World Cup after years of nonsense

Opener: Harry Kane celebrates after putting England in front against Tunisia
Rex Features
John Dillon22 June 2018

Still no sign of a submarine off the coast of Repino yet, then. No need to cross the longest suspension bridge in the world to get to England’s World Cup camp, either.

No blazing scrubland bush fires outside Harry Kane’s window. No need for hastily-erected fences to keep any WAGS in splendid seclusion and out of sight of photographers’ lenses.

This used to be the kind of nonsense which surrounded the England team at the Big Show. Funny, but after all the fuss they whipped up around themselves at previous tournaments, hardly anyone even realised they were there at the previous two gatherings in South Africa and Brazil.

They did so little hardly anybody noticed them.

This time, it feels, already, that Gareth Southgate’s team are part of the competition and they are in touch with it; embracing it and joining in rather than cutting themselves off.

(Reuters)
Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

The German newspaper Bild put Kane on its front page last Tuesday after the 2-1 win against Tunisia and demanded their own Teutonic version.

“There is something different about England at this World Cup,” they wrote. “It may be very early in the tournament, but that is how world champions win games.”

Der Spiegel added: “Even if they aren't good enough to win the title this year, in two years’ time, when they have a bit more experience and a few more young talents have come up, England will be ready to win the European Championship.”

Meanwhile, a Brazilian publication put Kane in its team of the tournament so far.

This kind of recognition is hugely important. Finally, the opposition know we are there. And why. And they seem happy about it.

Finally, it feels like England know why there are there, too - and it isn’t to strut around, pump up the hype and create a circus, but to try to play with some thought and intelligence, to keep plugging away and then to see what happens.

With a young, unproven squad and drastically reduced expectations at home, there was never going to be a repeat in Russia of the over-blown excesses of the past - the turreted fairy-tale castle HQ at Germany 2006, for one.

Southgate’s calm, sensible manner, and a smoothly clever and unassuming media operation have ensured further that England have presented a human face to the tournament and look like they are enjoying themselves for once.

(Reuters)
Sercio Perez/Reuters

They won, too. That always helps.

So finally, it feels like England are engaging with the idea of the World Cup rather than fencing themselves off from it. As if anybody else really cared, anyway, when they left South Africa in 2010, whipped 4-1 by Germany after a dismal group campaign - or were knocked out before the third group match even kicked off in Brazil four years ago.

At both events, England came and went like ghosts; as they did at Euro 2016, too.

Without ever making any major impact on the competition since Bobby Robson’s team reached the semi-final in 1990, England in recent decades managed to give the impression that somehow, they were above it all.

Getty Images

Unsurprising, perhaps, given that the FA didn’t deem the World Cup worthy of our presence until 1950, when we were promptly and memorably beaten by the USA.

It explains, partly, why they looked so increasingly out of touch with the whole event and its footballing standards in Japan, Germany, South Africa and Brazil.

That submarine? It was on patrol in the straits between the city of Kobe and Awaji Island in Japan where England erected their HQ in 2002.

Getty Images

It required a ride across the two-and-half mile wide Akashi Kaiko suspension bridge just to get across from the mainland.

The straits - 2,000 feet below - were so wide one story did the rounds that England might be stranded there and fail to make the opening fixture against Sweden because a typhoon was on the way.

It all made for good copy and pictures at the time. But it was also a warning sign that the FA, made dizzy by the potential of the so-called Golden Generation, had got way too far up themselves.

While England kept themselves out of reach, it was claimed they required tighter security than anyone else because they had the biggest stars - with Beckham-mania at its height.

Of course, all the teams at a World Cup require a certain amount of seclusion, privacy and safety. It is just that it all become so over-blown around England.

By contrast in 2002, Ronaldo was seen out partying with Brazilian fans across the water in Kobe after their last-16 win the city against Belgium. He was rather a big name at the time, if you remember.

It was in Baden-Baden four years later that the WAG circus pitched up to the sound of a million whirring lenses, with the team up at the far-too-grand Brenners Park hotel.

Luxuriating in such opulence, they struggled to beat Paraguay and Trinidad, drew with Sweden and scuffled past Ecaudor before losing in the last eight to Portugal.

In South Africa, Fabio Capello swapped this luxury for the stark isolation of Camp Rustenburg.

AFP/Getty Images

The isolation was just the same, however. For miles around, under the blazing winter skies, there was basically just mud and reddy-brown dirt. The air was filled with the smoke and the smell of burning crop stubble.

Three dreary group games were followed by the last-16 thrashing by Germany. Then they were gone.

In Brazil, it was a tough draw which did for England as much as the set-up of the camp. The hotel was just one of many like it on the Rio beach. The training ground backdrop was scenic; but where isn’t it pretty on that waterfront? Roy Hodgson’s side were knocked out in double-quick time, anyway.

Now there is a different mood. It is low-key. Respectful. And there has been England’s best start since 1998, which has bred more of the feel-good factor.

These things can change over the course of a tournament. But it is now likely they will each the last 16. Against earlier odds, some now expect them to go further.

For now, it’s encouraging enough that England are a part of the bigger picture for once.

It is a welcome change. Let’s keep in touch, shall we?

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