GERALD NA RODNEY WALIVYOIPELEKA ENGLAND WORLD CUP 2014
Shortly after Gary Neville retired
from playing, the former England defender admitted there were occasions
when he felt the national team was ‘a massive waste of time’.
Next
summer, in his role as one of Roy Hodgson’s coaches, one of his
responsibilities will be to make sure the current players don’t feel the
same way when they exit the World Cup.
Once
the initial euphoria that enveloped the England set-up on Tuesday
evening subsides, as usual it will be replaced by expectations that are
notoriously difficult to meet.
Ecstatic: Gary Neville (right) celebrates after England secured their place at next summer's World Cup finals
Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are old hands at the World Cup experience; two of the most senior players in the squad with 193 England appearances between them.
For different reasons they have never really enjoyed the tournament, never made the most of the opportunity to deliver on the grandest football stage of all.
Rooney, who has yet to score at a World Cup, was sent off in 2006 against Portugal. In South Africa four years later he was beset by problems off the pitch.
Vastly experienced: Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have 193 England appearances between them
Jumping for joy: Rooney congratulates Gerrard after the captain scored England's second against Poland
Gerrard was named in both squads but remarkably he claims his fondest memories of the tournament are the tears of a clown when Paul Gascoigne led England’s charge to the semi-finals in 1990. The current England captain had just turned 10, coming off the streets of Huyton that night to see the national team beaten in a penalty shoot-out in Turin.
‘That’s when the dream started that I wanted to be an England player and get to the World Cup, but I’ve not had similar memories as a player to the 1990 team,’ he admitted on Wednesday.
They reached the semi-final under Bobby Robson but Gerrard’s ambitions were thwarted in a penalty shoot-out against Portugal in 2006 and by the 4-1 defeat by Germany four years later.
At 33, this will be Gerrard’s last World Cup and he has already hinted heavily that he is likely to retire from international football at the end of the tournament.
Iconic: Steven Gerrard's fondest memory of the World Cup is Paul Gascoigne's tears during Italia '90
The England midfielder has said this many times before but at Wembley on Tuesday evening it felt like it could be for real.
‘This is my last opportunity to play in a World Cup and to go to Brazil will be the pinnacle,’ he added.
‘Hopefully, we can go there and surprise a few people but my experience of going into a World Cup is of people talking about a golden generation and being one of the favourites.
‘That creates a pressure; an unfair pressure. It’s a very tough tournament and this time people will be more realistic.’
In 2006 the team were not helped by Sven Goran Eriksson’s claim, before the opening group game against Paraguay, that England were capable of winning the tournament.
Last chance saloon: The 2014 World Cup will be Gerrard's final chance of England success on the global stage
Piling on the pressure: Sven Goran Eriksson claimed England could win the 2006 World Cup in Germany
Gerrard had missed the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea with a foot injury and his tournament memories in Germany four years later are coloured by his miss against Portugal in the penalty shoot-out.
‘It’s all about luck in the shoot-out and I just hope that one day it changes for me,’ he added.
‘Everyone wants to improve on that quarter-final; it’s the hurdle we have struggled to get over.’
Rooney was also in the team that day in Gelsenkirchen, sent off by Argentina referee Horacio Marcelo Elizondo in the 62nd minute for raking his studs down Ricardo Carvalho.
Disbelief: Rooney was sent off against Portugal after appearing to rake his studs down Ricardo Carvalho
Infamous: Cristiano Ronaldo controversially winked at the Portugal bench after Rooney's dismissal
Four years later he arrived at the finals in South Africa as the PFA player of the year and Football Writers’ Association player of the year after scoring 26 Premier League goals for Manchester United.
He was regarded as one of the best players in the world, but Rooney and England never got going.
When he walked off the field at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town after a shocking 0-0 draw against Algeria, he shouted at a TV camera: ‘Nice to see your home fans boo you, that’s loyal supporters.’
England won their final group game against Slovenia to squeeze through the group but they were on their way home four days later after they were routed by Germany.
‘I have wanted to do well in all the tournaments and it hasn’t happened,’ Rooney admitted on Wednesday.
Angered: Rooney spoke to the camera to complain about fans booing the team after a 0-0 draw with Algeria
‘I won’t put any added pressure on myself, but I want to try to perform. It’s my 10th or 11th year playing for England, so the obvious goal is to be successful and win trophies. That would be the icing on the cake. Hopefully, I can still do that.’
Rooney is 28 later this month and time is running out for one of the most talented players of his generation to leave a lasting impression at the tournament.
At his age he probably has another World Cup in him, but when England arrive in Brazil next summer, they have to make the most of it.
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