LONDON, June 12: There’s an indicator of why England has never won the European Championship. In nine attempts, it’s never won an opening match at the tournament.
Not even when its first match was at Wembley in 1996.
A quarter-century on, England opens another continental campaign at its national stadium against the team that prevented Gareth Southgate’s side reaching the World Cup final three years ago. Croatia on Sunday will face a team refreshed since losing 2-1 and denied a shot at adding to its only major title at the 1966 World Cup.
Led by 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane, only nine members of that squad made the cut for the expanded 26-man group for a cross-continental European Championship that will see England play six games at Wembley — if it reaches the final.
On the injury front, centre back Harry Maguire and midfielder Jordan Henderson might not be fit enough to start. There’s also fatigue to consider given the heat forecast for Sunday and the fact seven players were involved in the Champions League final two weeks ago when Chelsea beat Manchester City.
What Southgate won’t be doing is trying to overload the starting XI against Croatia with too many of the exciting attacking options and leave it unbalanced. Perhaps Kane is the only certain starter, with Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden vying for roles.
England is planning to make the most of being allowed five substitutes for the first time at a tournament. But in assessing the starting lineup, which assistant coach Steve Holland said has already been decided, England’s coaching staff have been recalling the fate of Argentina at the 2018 World Cup.
How to counteract Croatia’s likely midfield three of Mateo Kovacic, Marcelo Brozovic and, of course, Luka Modric, is weighing on England’s minds after being over-run in that territory in 2018. It’s about finding the balance between being aggressive applying pressure and holding back with a key role potentially for Declan Rice, who only made his debut last year.
Since the World Cup, when Croatia lost the final to France, Zlatko Dalic’s side has lost and drawn with England in the UEFA Nations League.
Unlike England, Croatia has won opening matches at the European Championship — four times, in fact, and drawn another. England has drawn five and lost four of them, including at its championship debut in 1968 against Yugoslavia, which Croatia used to be part of. (AP)
Match starts: 6:30 PM (IST).
