Jump to content

Why England will win Euro 2008 - BBC 2003


jamiefitz

Recommended Posts

Here is an article from 2003 stating the team that would win Euro 2008 for England

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/2641675.stm

_38674521_winning_team2_300.gif
By Dan Warren
BBC Sport Online grey_pixel.gifnothing.gif

January is a bleak, depressing month, brightened only by the occasional snowball fight and the fact there are no wasps.

But if you are an English football fan, there is at least some reason to continue living.

The recent steady flow of talented young stars has turned into an veritable torrent, with a new teenage hero seemingly unearthed every week.

A brace by 19-year-old Michael Tonge against Liverpool on Wednesday, while 20-year-old Neil Mellor was scoring at the other end, added two more names to this term's astounding production line of promise.

And future England manager Alan Shearer must be rubbing his sensible hands together in glee at the pot of gold maturing before his very eyes.

Goalkeepers

Chris Kirkland, 21 now, will be the world's finest goalkeeper by 2008, especially after another five years of shot-stopping practice at the back of Liverpool's attack-shy team.

Leeds' Paul Robinson, 23, is unlikely to be far behind his Liverpool rival and the two of them are likely to vie, Shilton-Clemence style, for the number one jersey for many years.

Defence

History has shown that every successful England international team has contained brothers, and Rio and Anton Ferdinand will form the bedrock of Shearer's defence.

Rio will be the team's veteran at 29, but Anton will possess the same assured approach and, let us hope, the same "funky" goalscoring celebrations.

Blackburn's Martin Taylor will be there to mop up when the siblings' rivalry causes them to lose concentration.

Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips will be devastating wing-backs, whose surging runs will leave Italians crying into their capuccinos and Germans blubbing in their bratwursts.

Midfield

This is where England excel, with the maverick talents of Joe Cole and David Dunn backed by the steel and vision of Steven Gerrard.

With Dunn (28 in 2008) and Cole (26 in 2008) possessing maturity and talent, all England need is for Gerrard (27) to end his current run of form which is, unfortunately, rubbish.

All three will be at their peak, and the onlooking David Beckham, who will probably retire from football at 30 to pursue a rock career, will smile in the stands as his successors shine.

Forwards

_38674195_rooney150.jpg
Rooney is but part of England's talent avalanche

England will have so much talent up front it will be embarrassing, and other teams may concede games before kick-off to avoid the humiliation on the pitch.

The original odd couple will spearhead the attack - Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen.

Off the field, the pair will fight like dogs, but on the field they will combine to create flowing football poetry which will reduce even the most toughened defenders to mere shells of men.

And to keep them alert, the likes of Liverpool's Neil Mellor, Aston Villa's Darius Vassell, Leeds' James Milner and West Ham's Jermaine Defoe will all be in the prime of their careers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 254
  • Created
  • Last Reply

The Daily Mail also chose their England side of the future in 2007

http://www.anorak.co.uk/371278/sports/in-2007-the-daily-mail-predicted-this-england-team-only-arsenals-walcott-made-it.html/

england-2007.jpg

Where are they now:

Dean Parrett: Stevenage
Jose Baxter: Sheffield United
Michael Johnson: retired
Theo Walcott: Still at Arsenal
Micah Richards: Manchester City squad man
James Henry: On loan at Millwall form Wolves
Gavin Hoyte: Dagenham and Redbridge.
Scott Sinclair: West Bromwich Albion, on loan from Manchester City
Robbie Threlfall: Morecambe
Sam Hutchinson: Dutch club Vitesse, on loan from Chelsea
Ben Amos: Waiting for his big chance at Manchester United

Link to comment
Share on other sites

that Micheal johnson that played for man city is now obese and depressed as well. England :lol:

I remember after we lost to italy then England failed to qualify 3 days later which definitely cushioned the blow - i remember when the draw was made for it the bbc were so cocky about their draw and said the least said about Scotlands draw the better and we got more points than them - Croatia played them at Wembley and it was a must win game for England but Croatia players spent the day before the game at London zoo then went on to beat them - it was marvellous

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Making prediction 5+ years into the future will nearly always make you look foolish with 20/20 hindsight. You can't be sure someone will establish themselves as an international player till about the age of 23. Also, if you're writing an article of sorts. The readers will be expecting you to make bold predictions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't take long for a seething Berwick fan to show up.

Yes, we constantly seethe at the success of our national side. If only we could come from a failing country so we could try and rip the piss out of the successful ones too.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, we constantly seethe at the success of our national side. If only we could come from a failing country so we could try and rip the piss out of the successful ones too.

:lol: What success? Doing, at best, the absolute bare minimum for any tournament you've ever entered?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Making prediction 5+ years into the future will nearly always make you look foolish with 20/20 hindsight. You can't be sure someone will establish themselves as an international player till about the age of 23. Also, if you're writing an article of sorts. The readers will be expecting you to make bold predictions.

Very true. I remember going to a Hearts v Rangers youth cup final at Hampden about ten years ago (very rough guess, but Hertz won 3-2 I think?) and the best player on the pitch by a country mile was a wee winger called Ross. As far as I know he did absolutely nothing of note in the game, but he was outstanding that night. Will try and dig out the programme for more details to see if anyone did go on to "stardom".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very true. I remember going to a Hearts v Rangers youth cup final at Hampden about ten years ago (very rough guess, but Hertz won 3-2 I think?) and the best player on the pitch by a country mile was a wee winger called Ross. As far as I know he did absolutely nothing of note in the game, but he was outstanding that night. Will try and dig out the programme for more details to see if anyone did go on to "stardom".

Found a match report there, Mark Brown, Darryl Duffy and Steven Dobbie were in the Rangers team. Neil Jancyzk was the only Hearts name i recognized.

Oh, it finished 5-3,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found a match report there, Mark Brown, Darryl Duffy and Steven Dobbie were in the Rangers team. Neil Jancyzk was the only Hearts name i recognized.

Oh, it finished 5-3,

So it did; I knew there were lots of goals. Out of 22 players, or more, very few successes, although that depends on your view of success I suppose?

What was the wee wingers first name?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...