All the England attention may have gone on the return of the Prodigal.
But as Wayne Rooney prepares for his first appearance of Euro 2012t, Roy Hodgson will be just as desperate to ensure Ashley Cole makes England history in Donetsk.
When he walks out against Ukraine tomorrow night, Cole will become England’s most-capped tournament player.
Cole’s 21st game at World Cup and European Championship finals will take him above Peter Shilton and David Beckham in the all-time list.
Indeed, since making his Finals bow against Sweden in Saitama in 2002, Cole has played all but 16 minutes of every single second of tournament action England have been involved in.
A total of 1844 minutes, almost 31 hours, 15 straight full games, his contribution metronomic in its consistency, certainty, dependability.
That is why Cole will, unless he suffers an unwanted injury, become only the sixth player to earn 100 caps for England, potentially - if the unlikely came true - as soon as July 1 in Kiev, although certainly by October.
Hodgson said: “With Ashley, he’s somebody you don’t have to think or worry about, it’s just a given that he will turn up and do well. That’s how it’s been, certainly in his England career.
“You’d have to say that he misses very few games, either for the national team or his club team. He always plays to a very high level and it’s great to hear he’s got this record to beat when he plays against Ukraine and I’m delighted for him.”
Cole’s superiority over all his past and current rivals is unquestioned.
He has made 96 starts out of the 129 games since being blooded, as a shock selection, in Tirana in Sven Goran Eriksson’s third game.
Over that 11-year spell, there have been 10 other left-backs - Chris Powell, Jamie Carragher, Phil Neville, Wayne Bridge, Paul Konchesky, Joleon Lescott, Nicky Shorey, Stephen Warnock, Kieran Gibbs and Euro 2012 back-up Leighton Baines - but making just 33 starts between them.
If Cole is fit, Cole plays.
And always plays like Cole. Always with consummate footballing intelligence, the energy and tactical discipline to do his job at both ends of the pitch, to put his foot in when needed, to become the out-ball on his flank, to stretch opponents.
Of course, Cole is at times his own worst enemy, especially off the pitch.
While David Beckham is the best example of an England player making himself hugely popular, the standing ovation he received at Wembley during this month’s friendly with Belgium further proof of that, Cole is the opposite.
The break-up of his marriage with the country’s most-loved pop star probably did not help, nor his brazen off-field behaviour over the past few years.
Cole has gone from being the open, friendly, youngster who engaged with the media during his first days at Arsenal into a recluse, refusing to speak, his petulant, four-letter conduct after the Champions League Final in Munich further evidence of the way he thinks it is acceptable to behave.
Yet footballers are judged, primarily, and rightly, on what they do when they step over the white line. And Cole has always been the master of his own destiny.
His duels with Cristiano Ronaldo, both at Euro 2004 and in Gelsenkirchen two years later, stand out as highlights, brilliant battles between two players at the very peak of their powers.
Yes, like everyone there are dips. The fact that an ongoing ankle problem means he cannot train for 48 hours after a match has had an effect and there were form reasons and justifications for Andre Villas-Boas leaving him out of his Chelsea starting side in Naples, even if the way the Portuguese handled it was crass.
But since Villas-Boas left Stamford Bridge, Cole has been back at his purring best, justifying the praise that Fabio Capello happily handed down and which was echoed last night by Hodgson.
The England boss added: “I think it would be wrong to take him for granted. I don’t think any of us do.
“I think we are very much aware of his qualities and how much we need him down that left side. So I hope we don’t take him for granted.
“But because he is a quiet man, then maybe for some people he does slip under the radar. I know that he’s most comfortable when he can let his football do the talking.” He is.
The Cole numbers
Most total tournament appearances:
20 Shilton (17 WC + 3 EC), Beckham (13 WC + 7 EC), Cole (14 WC + 6 EC)
19 Owen (12 WC + 7 EC)
18 Lineker (12 WC + 6 EC), Campbell (10 WC + 8 EC),
16 Moore (14 WC + 2 EC), R Charlton (14 WC + 2 EC), Seaman (9 WC + 7 EC), Scholes (9 WC + 7 EC), Gerrard (9 WC + 7 EC)
Cole is on course to become the sixth player to earn 100 England caps. He made his debut against Albania in Tirana in a World Cup qualifier in March 2001.
All-time most-capped: 125 Peter Shilton 115 David Beckham 108 Bobby Moore 106 Bobby Charlton 105 Billy Wright 96 Ashley Cole 94 Steven Gerrard
COLE’S TOURNAMENT GAMES
2002 World Cup Sweden D 1-1 Argentina W 1-0 Nigeria D 0-0 Denmark W 3-0 Brazil L 1-2
2004 European Championships France L 1-2 Switzerland W 3-0 Croatia W 4-2 Portugal D 2-2 (lost 6-5 on penalties)
2006 World Cup Paraguay W 1-0 Trinidad and Tobago W 2-0 Sweden D 2-2 Ecuador W 1-0 Portugal D 0-0 (lost 3-1 on penalties)
2010 World Cup USA D 1-1 Algeria D 0-0 Slovenia W 1-0 Germany L 1-4
2012 European Championships France D 1-1 Sweden W 3-2
ASHLEY COLE'S ENGLAND MANAGERS
Sven Goran Eriksson
First match: Albania (Tirana) March 2001 W 1-3 Last match: Portugal (Gelsenkirchen) July 2006 D 0-0 (lost 3-1 on pens) Appearances: 51
Made a big call to blood the Arsenal tyro in the heat of Albania rather than stick with Chris Powell. From that debut appearance Cole made himself one of the cornerstones of the team Eriksson took to three tournament quarter-finals. Never let him down.
Boss said: "He wasn't frightened of anything and if he could do that against Bayern there was no reason he couldn't against Albania."
Steve McClaren
First match; Greece (Old Trafford) August 2006 W 4-0 Last match: Estonia (Wembley) October 2007 W 3-0 Appearances: 10
Had Cole not damaged ankle ligaments against Estonia he would have played in the crunch games in Moscow and home to Croatia, England would have qualified for Euro 2008 and we'd never have heard of "the wally with the brolly". Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge were limited understudies.
Boss said: "I always want to give space for Ashley Cole to overlap and exploit because he will do that"
Fabio Capello
First match: Switzerland (Wembley) February 2008 W 2-1 Last match: Spain (Wembley) November 2011 W 1-0 Appearances: 32
Always unchallenged as Capello's top dog at left-back, with no real competition. The Italian had total trust and faith Cole, even when the fans turned against him - for non-footballing reasons - as they did at the start of his reign.
Boss said: "He is one of the best left-backs in the world. He's intelligent, his movement is clever and he is quick."
Roy Hodgson
First match: Belgium (Wembley) June 2012 W 1-0 Last match: Sweden (Donetsk) June 2012 W 3-2 Appearances: 3
Boss said: "Any England manager would want to work with Ashley Cole"
Source: www.mirror.co.uk
Auld Enemy set to resume rivalry as FA announce Wembley fixture for 2013 - Daily Mail
By Bob Cass
|
England will restart football relations with Scotland next year in a revival of the game's oldest international fixture.
The Football Association announced on Saturday that the two countries, who first played each other at the West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground at Partick, Glasgow, in 1872, will meet in a friendly at Wembley to mark the FA's 150th anniversary celebrations.
Euro '96 victory: Paul Gascoigne and the infamous dentist's chair celebration as England beat Scotland 2-0
The game - on Wednesday August 14, 2013 - will be the 111th time the two countries have faced each other.
They used to square up annually in the home championship but withdrew from that competition after 1984, citing waning spectator interest, crowded fixture lists and hooliganism.
Since then they have met five times in the short-lived Rous Cup and three times in the European Championship, the most recent being in 1999 when Scotland won 1-0 in the second leg of a Euro 2000 qualifying play-off at Wembley.
Great Scot: Don Hutchinson rises above the England defence to head the only goal in the last Wembley clash
England manager Roy Hodgson said: 'I am privileged to be manager of England at UEFA Euro 2012 and it will be another huge honour to lead our nation out against our oldest rivals. England versus Scotland is one of the finest fixtures in international football and I know what this game means to both sets of supporters.
'It will be a fitting part of The FA's 150th anniversary celebrations and the supporters, the team and my coaching staff all look forward to welcoming Scotland to Wembley Stadium next year.'
When it meant something: Gordon Banks, George Cohen and Bobby Moore can't stop Denis Law from scoring
Scotland coach Craig Levein believes his squad will relish the challenge of this historic fixture.
He said: 'For any Scotland supporter, player or coach, Scotland versus England is the ultimate contest: it really is as good as it gets.'
England will resume their international programme following Euro 2012 with a friendly against Italy in Berne, Switzerland, on August 15.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Erm think Scotland won the last game ya wallopers... (albeit lost 2-1 on aggregate) but why all the anti Scotland nonsense?
- Colin D, Renfrewshire, Scotland, 17/6/2012 22:57
Report abuse