Soccer media ‘Score 90’ highlighted the English players on its official SNS on the 21st, saying, “Are the English players as good as the golden generation in the Euro 2004 days?”
Euro 2024 will be held this summer. The strongest candidate for the Euro is England. England last won a major championship at the 1966 World Cup in England. Since then, the team has not won a major championship for nearly 60 years. It reached the final at Euro 2020, but lost to Italy after a penalty shootout. It is determined to break the long jinx through Euro 2024.
There is a lot of public opinion that this tournament is the right time to win England. Supernova Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, the best striker in existence, are maintaining their peak skills. In addition, many players such as Jack Grealish, Foden, Kyle Walker, Rice, and Saka are active in their respective teams. England has world class players in every position.
However, they cannot be complacent. England was also the top contender for the title at Euro 2004. Of course, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham were among the top midfielders. Most of the other players including Michael Owen, John Terry, and Rio Ferdinand showed off their skills and were packed with players considered part of the world class.
At Euro 2004, England was lethargic. As they belonged to a group with France, the strong team, it seemed that the race for No. 1 would be fierce. England and France faced off in the first group match, and Zinedine Zidane scored multiple goals to defeat England. England advanced to the quarterfinals as second place in the group, beating Switzerland and Croatia. Their opponent team in the quarterfinals was Portugal, and they lost after penalty shootout. It was disappointing because the names of English players were very valuable.
Sixteen years later, England had a chance at the Euro 2020. Back then, England successfully achieved generational change with a large number of promising players appearing. England confidently advanced to the round of 16 by garnering two wins and one draw at the group stage, and advanced to the final by beating Germany, Ukraine, and Denmark in turn. However, England kneeled down in the penalty shootout after meeting Italy. Attention is focusing on whether he will lift the trophy this time. If he acquires the title at this year’s championship, it will be the first Euros in English soccer history.