Zinedine Zidane, a legendary player from France, has identified three players from England who were more than capable of winning trophies but never did so.
The most recent time that the England men’s national team was victorious in a competition was in 1966, when they won the World Cup.
Over the course of time since then, the Three Lions have come very close to adding another trophy to their collection, but they have been unable to overcome the final obstacle.
When Gareth Southgate was England’s manager, the team was defeated in both the final of the Euro 2020 tournament and the final of the Euro 2024 tournament.
The so-called “Golden Generation” included players such as John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, and Wayne Rooney before the current crop of players came close to achieving glory.
On the other hand, they were unable to advance to the finals of major tournaments and were frequently left feeling dissatisfied.
When Zidane, a former superstar for both France and Real Madrid, was discussing England in 2016, he singled out three former players from the Three Lions who were more than capable of winning tournaments.
In an interview with Shortlist, he stated, “The mental factor can play a significant role in rugby.” For a number of years, Spain was unable to advance past the quarterfinals; however, when they did succeed, they went on to dominate football in a manner that had never been seen before.
“Some of those England teams I played against with players like Scholes, Gerrard and Beckham were more than capable of winning tournaments, so maybe mentality played a part.”
Back in 2016, when Zidane was asked about England’s squad, he also mentioned two players by name.
His statement was as follows: “[Harry] Kane and [Raheem] Sterling are two players for England that are very exciting.” The rest of Europe will have a great opportunity to witness France’s superiority during this summer, which will take place in France.
“Although I do not believe they are favourites, they still have a number of players who are very exceptional. As a result of their impressive performance in qualifying, I have no doubt that they will arrive in France with the mindset that they have a chance.
However, England had a difficult time at the Euro 2016 tournament, as they were defeated by Iceland by a score of 2-1 in the round of 16.
Southgate took over as manager of the Three Lions after Roy Hodgson’s tenure as manager of the team came to an end as a result of that terrible disappointment.
As we look to the future, the new England manager, Thomas Tuchel, is going to announce his first squad the following week.
xz
