1405923385 (N) by Steven Gerrard

Author:Steven Gerrard
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Biographies, Biographies & Memoirs, Soccer, Sports & Outdoors
ISBN: 9781405924429
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2015-09-22T21:00:00+00:00

10. England: The End

Arena da Amazônia, Manaus, Saturday, 14 June 2014

I had started playing football on a cold and hard stretch of cement on Ironside Road and I had ended up in the steamy and tangled Amazon rainforest. Manaus was a city that could be reached only by plane or by boat. Only football could have brought me here. Only football could have given me such a bridge across the world. On a fevered Saturday evening in Brazil I was happy to be this deep in the jungle.

I had been lucky enough to play in all the great European football cities, whether it was Barcelona or Madrid, Milan or Turin, Dortmund or Munich, but the accompanying trip around the world, from Huyton to Istanbul, Gelsenkirchen to Bloemfontein, Kiev to Manaus seemed even more surreal. I felt lucky all over again as I changed into my England kit in our dressing room at the Arena da Amazônia.

It was hot and humid, but not unbearably so. The weather men had got it right, predicting a temperature of 30 °C with humidity of 58 per cent just before the 6 p.m. kick-off. Sweat rolled down the faces of my teammates but I liked to think it was more from our warm-up routine than any excessive nerves. I wanted them to feel excited rather than anxious.

The World Cup had exploded into life the previous night when the Netherlands had ripped Spain to shreds in Salvador. It was a 5–1 thrashing studded with memorable goals – and it had been a shock to see the defending world champions, with great footballers like Xavi, Iniesta and Alonso, annihilated. The Dutch had outstanding players too, and Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben had each scored twice, but it was an encouraging sign. Maybe the predictable old order could be demolished in Brazil.

We had been slated for our performance against Italy in Kiev in 2012. The media decided that Pirlo was the artistic master and we were the toothless, clumsy fools. But Italy had still not been able to beat us in open play that night and we had a much pacier team in Manaus. After the season we’d just had I think there were few quibbles from England’s fans that our starting XI included five Liverpool players – Glen, Jordan, Raheem, Daniel and me.

Roy and Gary’s game plan was for us to play positively and attack Italy from the outset. We opted for a 4-2-3-1 system with Sterling running hard down the middle, just behind Sturridge. Sterling, with his sudden bursts of pace and deceptive strength, was given licence to play with freedom in an attempt to stretch the Italians. He would also need to occupy Pirlo. Rooney would play on the left. It was typical of Wayne that he agreed, without complaint, to sacrifice himself and do a worker’s job down the left while Raheem played in the number 10 role they both favoured. I had played with Wayne for a long time and he understood the importance of being flexible and accepting a position which would help the team.

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