Defeat hurts, but this young England team return home as heroes

Losing a semi-final is one of the biggest regrets you can have as a player, your exploits relegated to the status of pub-quiz answer.

Yet there is a nobility in defeat – especially when you have astonished your supporters and foes, helped to change perceptions of your country abroad and reignited a nation’s passion for their favourite sport.

I cannot be the only parent who made their child cry by bellowing with joy when Kieran Trippier arrowed that free-kick into the top corner. It was not to be. When the raw misery of Mario Mandžukić’s late goal subsides, this loss will feel different to those other near misses.

A nation united

For a few precious weeks, a nation increasingly divided by politics, wealth and age has united – thrilled by a young, cheerful team who offer us a glimpse of what can happen when you live without fear, work hard with humility, and believe in making your own luck.

Admittedly, such jubilation was not evident in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but a perhaps-surprising number of people living there have cheered on the Three Lions. England’s schoolchildren, too, have a new generation of idols to copy in the playground, an invitation to dream.

Football may not be coming home but this squad will be stunned by the reaction when they land. They do not return as legends but they are heroes. Few of us, or they, would have believed that 29 days ago when they arrived in Russia.

Coach Southgate, the Normal One, has persuaded tens of millions of people to believe in his mantra: write your own history.

@olyduff

More on England v Croatia:

Football isn’t coming home this time – but England have restored the World Cup faith

Player ratings: Young, Alli and Kane off the pace as Three Lions crash out

5 things we learned as Three Lions suffer World Cup heartbreak

The post Defeat hurts, but this young England team return home as heroes appeared first on iNews.



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