In the past, the English media have debated whether players
representing their country cared as much as they do for their clubs.
Their argument was strengthened when in 2008, the following quote
appeared in Jamie Carragher’s autobiography:
“Defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same
way as losing with my club. I wasn't caring or indifferent, I simply
didn't put England's fortunes at the top of my priority list. Losing
felt like a disappointment rather than a calamity. I was never in love
with playing for England in the first place.”
Those who saw
England’s players walk out of the Arena de Sao Paulo would say that the
class of 2014 feel very different to Carragher. The frustrations and
disappointment were all too evident, etched on the faces of every member
of the 23-man squad and coaching staff, particularly those who had
participated in the 2-1 defeat to Uruguay.
One such player was
Gary Cahill, England's No5. The 28-year-old, who was playing Sunday
League football until the age of 15, has had experience of dealing with
painful defeats in the past, but told FIFA.com that his emotions upon leaving the stadium were particularly gut-wrenching.
“It’s
one of the worst feelings I’ve had in my career,” he said. “But the
only satisfaction we can give ourselves is that we gave 110 per cent,
everything we had, in terms of our preparation and our training. But
sometimes it’s just not quite good enough. Sometimes football is cruel.
“Again
we played well – we gave a good account of ourselves – but we lost the
game and got nothing from it. I’ve certainly been involved in games as a
player where personally and collectively as a team, we’ve played a lot
worse than that and got results. But I would rather play worse and get
results, if I’m honest.”
Sporting praise for Suarez
Yet the Chelsea defender was sporting enough to credit the man who made
the difference in the match, the sublime Luis Suarez, who capped his
return from injury with both of Uruguay’s goals. The UEFA Champions
League-winner has enjoyed many tussles with the striker from Salto in
the past, but on this occasion the England man came off second-best.
“He
was one of the best players in the Premier League last season and he’s a
great finisher,” continued Cahill. “He took his first goal really well.
I thought his second goal was very fortunate, sometimes you need that
bit of luck in the game and it fell for them today.”
Reaching the
Round of 16 is now out of England’s hands. They must hope that Italy
get six points from their next two encounters against Costa Rica and
Uruguay and that they can defeat Los Ticos in Belo Horizonte,
the scene of the Three Lions’ lowest ebb at the 1950 World Cup when they
failed to qualify from the group stage.
In the meantime, Cahill and the England crew will be crossing their fingers and cheering for Gli Azzurri in Recife, as an Italian win would make their preparations for their final Group D game all the more meaningful.
“At
the moment, it’s so hard to take,” said Cahill. “It’s going to be four
very hard days for us to swallow. On the flip side, we hope Italy
perform very well in the next two games and we get a win in the last
one. That’s all we can do at this moment.”
Source: http://www.fifa.com
