Monday’s match against Tunisia was England’s best performance at a major international tournament for close to a decade. After trying and failing and trying even more desperately and then failing even more stupendously than ever before, the Three Lions finally have an opening game in which they can take great pride.
No event escalates individuals to the status of national hero or global villain as dramatically as the World Cup. The idolatry that follows success and the stigma that follows failure are woven into the fabric of history, and the repercussions will typically follow footballers for the rest of their lives. Daily, we’ll take a look at who played the role of hero and who played the role of villain at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
There's a reason he's wearing the captain's armband. The Harry Kane goal in stoppage time could be looked back on as the turning point for England in this World Cup. Plagued by a recent history of underperforming on the sport's biggest stage, it looked like England was destined for a disappointing draw against Tunisia.
After a second half played almost entirely in the Tunisia half, Kane broke a 1-1 deadlock in stoppage time with a back post header off a corner.
There’s something in the water in Uruguay. There’s something about the nation of three million people, winners of the first ever World Cup, which allows them to produce some of the most magnificent bastards in the history of football.
For Tottenham fans, Friday’s news must have come as a relief. Their savior Harry Kane, who scored more goals in 2017 than anyone else in Europe, signed a six-year contract with Spurs. But the new Harry Kane deal might not keep the England striker in North London for long if you consider Tottenham’s last megastar.
Tottenham is in a unique position in English football. The club doesn’t have the resources of a Chelsea, Manchester United or Manchester City, and yet the team has finished in the top three for three years running.
England traveled to Leeds for its World Cup send-off match against Costa Rica Thursday, and 20-year-old Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford wasted no time in delighting a capacity crowd at Elland Road.
Rashford was just a 16-year-old when Costa Rica and England played to a 0-0 draw in Belo Horizonte back in 2014 (England were already eliminated at that point following defeats to Italy and Uruguay), but the Mancunian played like a man possessed to open the proceedings today.
Manchester City’s promising forward Raheem Sterling has hit a trifecta of problems recently with England’s manager, British news media and anti-gun violence advocates, but are they really problems?
After word broke out that Sterling had tattooed an M16 assault rifle on his right leg, which he posted on Instagram during training, the 23-year-old didn’t have much time before being bashed by British tabloids. England’s The Sun placed Sterling’s Instagram photo on its front page on Tuesday and titled it “Raheem shoots himself in the foot.”
Former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has dropped some serious allegations against Pep Guardiola, who managed the Ivorian at both City and Barcelona, in a recent interview with France Football.
Lazio made a silly mistake on Friday. The Serie A club asked fans to vote in a Twitter poll for who they think should be the Lazio Player of the Season.
The choice should be pretty simple. Ciro Immobile was one of the top players in all of Europe, scoring 41 goals across all competitions and tying Mauro Icardi with 29 goals to win Serie A’s Capocannoniere as the league’s top goal scorer.