The Three Lions

Every two years after a grueling season of English premier league and the Champions league comes the chance for football players to garner glory for their Nation and to show the world that the best league in the world produces the best national team.

And every two years I remove from my cupboard a T-shirt in scarlet red which reads England. And Every two years I relegate that T-shirt back into my cupboard within two weeks of the tournament after the team loses against Portugal or Germany or any other half decent team that they meet.

They have done it again this year 4-1 to Germany. And as much as I crib that Lampard's goal should have been counted in the 2010 Edition of the FIFA world Cup in the pre-quarters game, deep down I realise that just as every other year it is an excuse I generate to convince myself that I still love this team and it is world class. The truth is if Lampard had scored the Germans would still have found a way to get past the famed English defense or worse still put them down agonisingly in a penalty shoot out. So it doesn't matter if Rooney was injured at their Last Euro appearance or if Cristiano Ronaldo instigated his send off at the 2006 world cup. Ronaldinho's free kick whether it was a shot or a cross beat David Seamen. It isn't tough luck. The answer is simple, they are plain ineffective and mentally weak. The Golden Generation of Gerrard and Lampard (they should never be on the same pitch playing for the same team) have failed, Golden boy Becks (haven't seen a better crosser of the ball till date from the right wing) well its long over for him now,Terry and Ferdinand will no longer have fresh legs, Rooney will probably end up as a potential unfulfilled at the international level.

And the future is not too bright either. The future line up will throw no surprises and no exceptional English player. The team will possibly be the same(Gerrard may be too old). It will be an even more aged Lampard taking the field with a Barry-Carrick-Hargreaves(if he is ever fit)-Milner midfield. I don't know if Bent will ever be selected and if Theo Walcott will make the cutting edge difference in attack. So that leaves Wayne wonder boy/man/veteran Rooney to do all the scoring. Mathew Upson proved that in central defence you need a cool and experienced head along with fresh legs. Is there an English style play and is there a quintessential English footballer? I mean the fast paced cross giving and hard tackling midfielder who makes up for the lack of artistry by sheer grit, passion and determination to attack. This team and its management need to realise that the English have a unique style of play which they need to find, the kind that makes Beckenbauer not say words like "kick and rush," the kind that may not be breathtakingly beautiful but will be refreshingly different and English.

But two years on the Euro will come, I will take out my England Jersey and support the team. They might be out rightly out played and humbled by Argentina, Brazil Germany or Spain the next time around but something about the Three Lions makes me want to cheer for them. May be its their temperament, their rare show of passion or their style of fast and hard tackling football that makes this team not the most artistic or fluent team to watch but certainly one which you can root for, the kind you hope against hope will pull off a miracle against all odds.