Roy Hodgson named his England squad for the Brazil World Cup next month, and it has filled the national with belief. After flicking through it, here are three reasons why England can win the tournament.
1) Roy Hodgson
The England boss started his managerial career way back in 1976 and has had 22 jobs since. The highlights of these roles have been with Malmo in Sweden, where he won seven major trophies in four years, Copenhagen where he won two cups, and obviously the England job.
He has also managed the likes of Inter, Fulham and Liverpool, as well as West Brom and Udinese. Most importantly though, he has experience with national sides – Hodgson has been in charge of Switzerland and Finland, the former he took to third in the world in terms of rankings, and the latter he took to Euro 2008.
He knows what he’s doing.
2) Blend of youth and experience
The likes of Luke Shaw, Phil Jones, Ross Barkley, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling and Jack Wilshere will all add energy into the side, being 22 or under, but Hodgson has also selected some old heads.
Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney will all be on the plane, and the likes of Glen Johnson (50 caps), James Milner (45 caps), and Joe Hart (39 caps) will all create a nice blend.
The squad looks like a very strong one.
3) Underdogs
No one expects England to do anything special. Sure, there are some of us hoping for an upset, but we are not actually expecting anything to come from it. That will suit England. Write us off at your peril.