English Tragedy: A country dreaming since 1966!

Andrea Pirlo ‘Panenkas’ England keeper Joe Hart; Italy and Pirlo put up a masterclass to edge England out in a penalty shootout in Euro 2012

Every four years, be it the Euros or the World Cup, every English football fan in the country makes it a point to put England as an overwhelming favourite to win the tournament.

This has been happening since 1966 (the last time England won a major international trophy, the World Cup) and post-1966 , England have not even been close to winning either the Euro or the World Cup.

Major heartbreaks occur to English football fans, each time England go down in the quarters or semis of a tournament, either by a moment of magic or their bane, the penalty shootouts (This Euro it was Pirlo and his ‘Parenka’ which saw England lose in a shootout yet again!). Many instances can be pulled up, such as Zinedine Zidane’s late genius in Euro 2004 (his freekick was the stuff of dreams!) and Ronaldinho with his magical goal in the 2002 World cup quarterfinal, that left television viewers and keeper David Seaman shaking their heads in disbelief!

So, why does England, despite being a traditional footballing nation and having the best Football league in the world, put up a series of mediocre displays in major tournaments?

Bobby Moore with the 1966 World Cup trophy;England are yet to win a major tournament since that famous victory over Germany

Some say that it is due to the influx of foreign players in the English leagues and the lack of more locally groomed players that causes this problem.

While on the other hand, many are of the opinion that the severe media hype before any tournament is the reason for England losing their nerve in crunch matches.

Though England has always produced players of calibre like David Beckham, Paul Scholes or ’Gazza’ Paul Gascoigne, they always seem to come up short in the knock out phases.

Owen blitz’s past the Argentinian defence in 1998. Despite having had world class players like Owen, England do not seem like breaking their trophyless jinx any time soon

The list of English teams losing out on penalties is a long one, the most recent being the loss to Italy in Euro 2012.

The positives England have is that though each time they have choked and gasped their way out of a tournament, they always have had one player who could make a serious impact on the opposition (Michael Owen it was in World Cup 1998 with his wonder goal against Argentina and again in 2002 where he scored against Brazil in the early part of their quarter final).

So, irrespective of whether England win a major international tournament or not anytime soon, it will be another long wait for the pub going English supporter, who will surely look to drown his misery with another round of drinks!