EURO 2012 Qualification: England should take heart from Hart’s performance
Ever since David Seaman’s blunder in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, English fans have wondered whether they will ever see the quality that their country was famous for. Yes, believe it or not, England were once indeed famous for their goal keepers. One of the greatest goal keepers of the last century, actually scratch that. TWO of the greatest goal keepers of the last century are English.
The first one is Gordon Banks, England’s goal keeper who is arguably credited with making the best save ever since Pele’s header in the 1970 version of the tournament. It was a fine moment for England and despite the fact that they self destructed in the quarterfinals against Germany in Mexico, they held their heads up high as one of the finest English teams had its last hurrah on the international stage.
The second goalkeeper in consideration is Peter Shilton. Shilton was England’s first choice goal keeper for over two decades from 1970 till 1990. After Banks called it quits in international football, Shilton stepped up for the English and made the goalkeeping spot his own. During these twenty years, Peter racked up an astonishing amount of 125 appearances for his national team.
There have been a lot of English goalkeepers since Shilton’s retirement, David James, David Seaman, Chris Kirkland, Paul Robinson and Robert Green to name a few. However, none of them have had the quality of their famous predecessors. For the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Capello selected Joe Hart, David James and Robert Green as England’s goal keeping options.
In the first match of the tournament against U.S.A, Robert Green got the nod ahead of his compatriots and he didn’t fail to disappoint. The West Ham goalkeeper made an utter fool out of himself as he fumbled Clint Dempsey’s shot into his own goal.
For the rest of the tournament, Green was relegated to the English team’s bench and David James got his chance to shine. James was relatively average for England as they went out after a 4-1 mauling by the Germans at the round of sixteen stage. It is now safe to say those Green’s and James’s careers as English goalkeepers are over partly due to their own shortcomings but also because of Joe Hart’s incredible surge of talent and form.
In England’s first qualification game against Bulgaria, when the English were leading by a goal to nil, Hart was called upon by the Bulgarian defence to make some match saving saves in the English goal. Joe Hart’s rise to prominence particularly reached its peak through his consistent performances for Birmingham City in the 2009-2010 season and now the young goalkeeper has kept the good work up for Manchester City in the 2010-2011 English Premier League season.
At 1-0, England were cruising in the game but if Hart had faltered and Bulgaria had scored to make it 1-1. English national team might have buckled under pressure of the home crowd but the three lions gathered confidence from their goal keepers’ performances and went onto score three more goals to gain an emphatic 4-0 win.
After the match, Fabio Capello paid compliments to Joe Hart by saying that Hart played “very very well”. He also added that Joe Hart made two remarkable saves that contributed to England’s victory on the night. Hart’s performance for England has made one thing sure that England’s goalkeeping troubles are behind them.
Next week, England visit Switzerland to play against the Swiss in their second group G qualifier. For sure, fitness permitting, Joe will be in the English goal once again. Capello doesn’t usually shower praise on his players and when he does so in public, it is a sign of confidence and belief in a player which deserves nothing less.
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