No two players in the current England line-up have had to prove critics wrong as much as Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane.
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The former was constantly told by the press without good reason ever since he broke through as a teenager in Liverpool, the latter had the metaphorical albatross hung around his neck due to his empty trophy cabinet in Tottenham.
The duo led the way for the Three Lions at the 2018 World Cup, and despite reaching their first semi-final in 28 years, they were the ones who got the scapegoat for not taking football home.
Kane, despite winning the golden boot, should have squared against Sterling when England led 1-0 against Croatia. Sterling, despite being one of the most dangerous players in the tournament, should have had a more noticeable impact and not been so wasteful, he should even have been lost.
They have had mixed spells at Euro 2020 so far. While Sterling is an undoubted challenger to the tournament’s players at this rate, captain Kane was replaced in two of England’s group games, with conflicting fans and media suggesting he could be lost to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. He has responded to that criticism with three huge goals in two knockout matches.
Kane and Sterling click at the right time / Ettore Ferrari – Pool / Getty Images
At the club level, Kane and Sterling are two of the Premier League’s star names, two of the division’s best players in the last decade. Hell, even two of the best players the English top flight has ever seen. Their only nayayers are bitter rivals who are more obsessed with “being right”, even when they are ridiculously wrong. They are the poster boys for two of the biggest clubs in the country.
That’s why it was so sweet when the two reconnected in England’s 4-0 quarter-final victory over Ukraine. Kane opened the scoring just minutes after kick-off after being slipped in by Sterling, who selected the Spurs striker with a smart ball behind.
It was this combination that threatened Ukraine time and time again, with Sterling in particular enjoying both flanks and playing with real freedom and expression. Kane won a foul shortly after half-time which led to Harry Maguire’s second before adding himself to the third. Everything that England did came through one way or the other, with Luke Shaw, who has had to fight off the aggressive criticism of Jose Mourinho for several years and played the lead role in Portugal’s new backyard.
England has a real shot at Euro 2020 glory / Alessandro Garafallo – Pool / Getty Images
This site in England has been called so much more popular than their predecessors. Maybe it’s a by-product of the social media age where everyone is as friendly and open as they are media trained. But they retain the chip-on-the-shoulder mentality that the very best athletes need to succeed. They show that people are wrong about the fun of it right now.
England return home to face Denmark in the semi-final at Wembley on Wednesday, a chance to banish further demons three years ago. They have already beaten their 2018 conquerors in Croatia, their toughest big rival in Germany. Gareth Southgate’s men are on the verge of immortality.
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