English football takes centre stage

The England national team may be at its lowest ebb for 14 years - they’ll be absent from a major tournament this summer for the first time since the 1994 World Cup - but after Wednesday’s pulsating Champions League Final, English football has something to smile about before a summer spent on the sidelines.

Despite Chelsea and Manchester United’s familiarity with each other, this year’s final was anything but predictable. Mercifully, there was no repeat of the turgid spectacle played out between the two clubs in last year’s FA Cup Final. Apart from the first 10 minutes, the match coursed through the Moscow night with the sort of dynamism that the Premier League’s marketing men could only have dreamed of.

Momentum swung from red to blue and chances for glory fell to each side on the sodden Luzhniki turf. Heroes abounded and, despite the multinational make-up of the two squads, Fabio Capello will have been pleased to note that many of the game’s key protagonists were English.

In fact, it was almost possible to form an entire English team from the two starting elevens; six for Manchester United and four from Chelsea. Capello will have noted that the majority of them played with the sort of proactivity and guile that has been missing from England’s performances of late.

The Italian will have been especially satisfied with his defensive players in Moscow. Rio Ferdinand’s mature performance put forward a compelling argument for his aspirations toward the permanent England captaincy. Another contender, John Terry suffered a heartbreaking penalty miss that was a dreadfully unjust conclusion to his towering performance. Full backs Wes Brown and Ashley Cole excelled at repelling most opposition forays that were attempted on their respective flanks.

In midfield, Frank Lampard continued his renaissance with a tireless display and was unlucky not to add to his first half goal when he struck the woodwork in extra time. His distribution was exceptional throughout, as was Michael Carrick’s; the stylish United midfielder must wonder what more he can do to impress Capello having been absurdly left out of the last two England squads in favor of lesser players like Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone.

Wednesday night was a superb advert for the English game. The onus now rests with Capello to transfer league success into national achievement. The FA will wish the Italian was preparing for challenges in Austria and Switzerland rather than the upcoming friendlies with the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. But the Champions League Final showed that he possesses the necessary talents to avoid missing two international competitions in a row.

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