England’s 2006 ‘Golden Generation’ Crashed Out in 3rd Straight Quarter-Final as Rivalries and Injuries Mounted
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · May 11
England’s 2006 ‘Golden Generation’ Crashed Out in 3rd Straight Quarter-Final as Rivalries and Injuries Mounted
11 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · May 11
A new BBC documentary revisits how England’s star-studded 2006 World Cup side again fell in the last eight, losing 3-1 on penalties to Portugal after a 0-0 draw.
Key figures say the failure stemmed less from hype than from structural problems: Rio Ferdinand cites club rivalries and a lack of togetherness, while Steve McClaren points to selection and balance issues.
Injuries compounded those flaws. Wayne Rooney went to Germany only six weeks after a metatarsal fracture and later said he should not have gone, while Michael Owen’s tournament-ending knee injury left England short up front.
The backdrop was unusually unstable: Sven-Goran Eriksson had already announced he would leave after the tournament, and the squad was engulfed by intense tabloid attention on Baden-Baden, the WAGs and celebrity culture.
That mix of tactical imbalance, physical setbacks and off-field noise helped turn a team expected to end 40 years of hurt into another quarter-final exit, extending a run of failures after 2002 and Euro 2004.
With England a favourite for this year's World Cup, what lessons from 2006's 'circus' has the team truly learned?
How did Gareth Southgate succeed in uniting England's squad where the 'Golden Generation' so famously failed?
Were the WAGs and club rivalries just a convenient excuse for a team that was simply tactically outclassed?