“IF YOU HAVEN’T GOT BELIEF, DON’T BOTHER COMING”
Three years ago at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Raheem Sterling discovered a seemingly inescapable truth about England and major tournaments. His manager, Gareth Southgate, had been confronted by the same truth at Euro 96. Six years before that, at the 1990 World Cup, Bobby Robson and his players had experienced this enlightenment. These were England’s three most successful finals since 1966 – heady summers that have gone down in history. But no matter how well the team performs, nor how much they lift the nation, there is always a simple, yet savage, reality for the Three Lions. By the sheer nature of tournament football, unless you’re the last team standing with the trophy in the bag, your journey is destined to end in defeat, heartbreak and regret.
Even while plaudits continue to come their way afterwards, for the players there remains a nagging feeling of ‘if only’; a sense that utopia was within reach, if somehow they had found a way to do that little bit more.
Sterling feels that way about Russia 2018.
England surpassed expectations in Russia, reaching the
