Kieran Trippier is the last man to score a World Cup goal for England, one of only three to ever do it in a semi-final, but it is a memory that comes laced with disappointment for one of Gareth Southgate’s most trusted foot soldiers.
Russia was four years ago and it feels like a lifetime since that muggy night in Moscow when England’s momentum was checked by a streetwise, sophisticated Croatia. But ahead of a fresh tilt at football’s greatest prize, Trippier does not hide from the reality of a huge opportunity missed.
“It’s difficult to let go, I’m not going to lie, getting beaten in a semi-final when you know you were so close,” he says, having been named in England’s World Cup squad on Thursday afternoon.
“There is no point to prove (in Qatar) but we could have been 3-0 up in the first 45 minutes (against Croatia). It’s fine margins against a top team. It’s all about ifs and buts, that’s in the past, we’ve made a final (since) and now we want to go one step further.”
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Perhaps in Russia, the last four felt like a partial success. But Southgate’s achievements – a semi-final followed by Euros final – have created an expectation which is shared by the squad. “We want to go into every tournament to win. That’s a given,” Trippier says.
“We know we’re up against fantastic nations but we feel we’ve got a very, very good squad to go and win the tournament. That’s got to be the mindset – a winning mindset.”
Do England have that? The mounting criticism of Southgate’s caution came to a crescendo in the summer as their Nations League campaign plumbed new depths but the counter argument is that when the real stuff gets going, we’ll see a new blueprint emerge.
For all that Southgate is accused of undue conservatism an England squad loaded with creative talent (a charge partly mitigated by picking in-form maverick James Maddison), his has been a successful tournament strategy.
“Gareth is a fantastic manager,” Trippier counters.
“The record of a semi-final and final speaks for itself. He’s an unbelievable manager and I think he does deserve more credit. He’s taken us far in two major tournaments – for me, he’s a top-class manager.”
Perhaps you’d expect no less from a player who has always held the trust of Southgate, even as he took a gamble returning to England with a team bottom of the Premier League.
It was a risk, but one that paid off handsomely.
As he stood pitchside at St James’ Park on Wednesday night he made sure to couch his first answer respectfully, given the squad had yet to be formally announced. But he knew – we all knew – he was a certainty to be in the travelling party. Not just that, he is pretty much a nailed-on starter against Iran.
England’s World Cup 2022 squad
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Everton), Eric Dier (Spurs), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Man City), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Man City), Declan Rice (West Ham)
Forwards: Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), Harry Kane (Spurs), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Callum Wilson (Newcastle)
“I feel like I’m playing the best football of my career, certainly here and when I was at Atletico Madrid with (Diego) Simeone,” he says.
“I’ve learned a lot since I left there. He worked me really hard, defensively, offensively and as a person on and off the pitch. I think I’ve come back to the Premier League a more complete player.
“I know I’m 32 but I’m not slowing down. I’m more confident, hungrier, and going into a tournament you need to be at a good level, individually and as a collective.
“I certainly feel like I’m going on the back of good performances.”
Trippier’s enthusiasm for the tournament is palpable, a ready-made antidote to the cynicism of FIFA awarding the tournament to Qatar. That decision has tinged this tournament, shrinking the goodwill surrounding the games and disrupting the usual long build-up and heady mix of hope and anguish that trails England at major international tournaments.
Perhaps for some that has dampened enthusiasm but not for Trippier’s father Chris. Despite the prospect of cold nights, he will once again raise a St George’s cross emblazoned with his son’s surname onto a flag pole that stands 25ft above his home in Ramsbottom.
Last time Bury Metropolitan Council sent round enforcement officers to demand he take it down, to no avail.
“They were knocking last time saying ‘flag down’ but he (dad) didn’t so we had to pay the fine. So be it,” Trippier chuckles.
He will be joined by his family in Qatar – with the exception of his dad who gets “too nervous” – and Trippier admits it will be an “expensive trip”. But the smile that crosses his lips when he speaks of their pride at his achievements tells its own story.
Years of hopes and dreams are poured into the moment Trippier will walk out at the Khalifa Stadium on November 21.
“It’s a proud moment for my family. I know what they’ve sacrificed,” he says.
“We’re a family that grew up with no money really – four boys in a little two-bed council house. I always look back and realise how much mum and dad sacrificed for me to be in the position I’m in.
“It’s always good to give back because they sacrificed a lot, especially with four boys. I’m the youngest so you can imagine what the household was like.”
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