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QQQ Daily Mail, Friday, September 6, 201982 ENGLAND v BULGARIA 1 DAY TO GO
by
DOMINIC
KING
Watching with the fans
made me realise how
much England matters
E
VEN now, as Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain
looks back, he
cannot hide his sense
of wonder. It should
be painful revisiting this
particular night but ‘The
Mayhem’ as he calls it, was
actually inspirational.
In June 2018, the Liverpool mid-
fielder’s head was jumbled with
emotions. Despair at facing a year
on the sidelines due to a catastrophic
knee injury, frustration from being
at home while his friends were in
Russia and envy about the
journey England were having at
the World Cup.
Oxlade-Chamberlain had
watched several games at home,
but on the night England faced
Belgium in their final Group G test
in Kaliningrad he ventured to a
bar at Boxpark, a retail centre in
London’s trendy Shoreditch. He
wore a hat and glasses to make
himself look inconspicuous but ‘it
didn’t do me much good!’. He wasDid he shout at the screens when
England slipped to a 1-0 defeat?
The question reduces him to
laughter — ‘There were probably a
few times I was with them! “What
are you doing?”,’ comes the
mischievous reply — but the
passion and the emotion inside the
venue has remained in his mind.
‘It was special what the World
Cup created and I got to see that
first-hand, in the environment,
and it wasn’t what I expected,’
says Oxlade-Chamberlain.
‘I met a couple of doctors there,
a couple of boys from the city, a
couple of plumbers, they all came
into Boxpark and it was just
mayhem. It meant so much to
everyone. I’d never seen that first-
hand. It was a reminder of what it
means to play for England.’
And he loves playing for England.The road back from that night
against Roma in April 2018, when
he suffered an injury that led to his
right knee being reconstructed,
has been told and, metaphorically,
Oxlade-Chamberlain doesn’t want
to reopen old wounds.
The future is what matters now
and another sign that things are
moving in the right direction
arrived last Thursday when he
woke up and saw a message on his
phone from the FA to tell him he
was back in the squad.
‘I stumbled out of bed and there
it was,’ he says. ‘That buzz of
seeing your name. I’m thankful
that the manager has trusted me
so soon. I always expected to get
back to this level. I just didn’t
know how soon it would be.’
Gareth Southgate welcomed
Oxlade-Chamberlain back into thesquad with a warm embrace —
England’s head coach remained in
regular contact all through his
year out — and there should be an
opportunity against Bulgaria or
Kosovo to win his 33rd cap.
That figure should be higher. He
would have been a starter at the
World Cup, as his form for Liverpool
had been so good, but that ended
up being his third consecutive
tournament missed through injury.
Few players have experienced
such bad luck, but, having enjoyed
Boxpark, he appreciates the
possibilities Euro 2020, with so
many games at Wembley, presents.
‘The boys did themselves proud
to create that environment
where people have a bit more
belief now,’ he says.
‘Maybe it’s written in the stars
for me to score the winner.’BOOTHROYD LOOKING TO
THE FUTURE WITH U21S
AIDY BOOTHROYD shook off the
fallout from England’s group
stage exit at June’s European
Under 21s Championship.
A new-look Young Lions are in
Izmit to face Turkey in their first
Euro 2021 qualifier tonight and
after FA technical director Les
Reed gave him public backing
this week, Boothroyd said: ‘The
fact that the England manager
and technical director support
you is a positive thing.’quickly identified. If the sight of an
England international in their
midst left revellers doing a double-
take, the experience was even more
peculiar for the man himself.
‘I was shocked,’ he says, taking
up the story in a quiet corner of
St George’s Park. ‘It was the first
time I’ve watched a football match
with football fans of my team, if
that makes sense. I’m either always
in the stadium, or at home.
‘I’ve never been to a pub where
there’s a bunch of Liverpool fans
or Arsenal fans and watched it
with them. I’ve never been to a
pub with England fans, or in a big
place, to see what it means to
them. So I was sat there and it was
surreal. I could see my mates on the
screen doing what I usually do.
‘Then I was looking at how every-
one around was reacting to them
and what it meant to them. I was
almost idolising them too.
‘I was like, “Oh my God! Look at
what they’re doing! Do I really do
that?” There was a few times,
where a bit of stick was given out
and I was like, “Relax! Calm down!”’Weight for it:
Alex Oxlade-
Chamberlain is
set to win his
33rd cap
THE FA/REXGareth calls
for a perfect
win record
GARETH SOUTHGATE has
challenged his England players
to complete a 100 per cent
Euro 2020 qualification
campaign to boost their chances
of lifting the trophy next
summer.
During a team meeting at
St George’s Park, the manager
told his squad a perfect record
could be vital to their hopes of
becoming European champions.
UEFA have altered the seeding
system for the finals and results
in qualifying will now decide the
top-ranked nations.
England, as one of the hosts,
would want to secure one of the
top spots to avoid facing teams
such as France and Belgium.
Winning all eight qualifiers could
also help them guarantee they
play all three group matches at
Wembley. So Southgate has
drummed into the players the
importance of winning their
remaining six games in Group A
— starting against Bulgaria
tomorrow.
Southgate has kept his players
guessing as to who may start at
Wembley by switching personnel
during shape sessions in training.
Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling
look certain to start in attack,
Jordan Henderson and Harry
Winks could play in midfield, and
Michael Keane is hopeful of
being chosen ahead
of Joe Gomez to partner Harry
Maguire in central defence.By SAMI MOKBEL
and MATT HUGHESIreland ugly but effective Sala death rocked Davies
Level: McGoldrick and
Alan Judge celebrate REXIT IS seldom pretty with Ireland but
Mick McCarthy won’t care after
David McGoldrick’s late header
salvaged a point to leave them
three clear at the top of Group D.
McCarthy was a little miffed when
Switzerland’s players referenced
Ireland’s ‘unpleasant’ tactics
before the game.
But there was beauty in the way
Sheffield United striker McGoldrick
rose to head home his first
international goal after 85 minutes.
‘If I could have selected the scorer
I would have picked him,’ said
McCarthy. ‘The noise when that
goal went in pleased me more thananything, and I’m proud that we
kept going.’
Newcastle defender Fabian Schar
thought he had done enough to
win an ugly contest on 74 minutes.
But Ireland never know when they
are beaten and are in pole position
for Euro 2020. They even pressed
for a winner before Shane Duffy’s
challenge on keeper Yann Sommer
led to a brawl in the dying moments.light aircraft crashed 22 miles off
Guernsey on January 21 while
travelling from Nantes to Cardiff,
and Sala’s body was found in the
wreckage. The body of pilot David
Ibbotson has never been found.
Davies had been waiting for Sala at
Cardiff Airport on that fateful night
and was left to alert the authorities
when the plane carrying the club’s
record signing failed to arrive. Along
with many at the club, the 28-year-
old was badly affected by Sala’s
death and was one of just three
Cardiff employees to attend his
funeral in Argentina. Manager Neil
Warnock and chief executive KenChoo were the others. A fluent
French and Spanish speaker, Davies
formed a relationship with Sala
while organising his travel from
France. A series of WhatsApp
messages leaked to French
newspaper Ouest-France in March
showed the pair exchanging jokes,
with Davies also offering Sala the
option of taking a commercial flight
from Charles de Gaulle airport in
Paris to Cardiff, which he rejected
for the aircraft offered by McKay.
Davies was a popular member of
staff at Cardiff, where his departure
was a surprise. The club’s players
have been told that he chose to
leave as his wife was offered a job in
Dubai, where he is looking for work.CRAIG HOPEFrom Back PageOXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN ON HIS UPLIFTING NIGHT OUT
REP OF IRELAND 1
SWITZERLAND 1
Group table — Page 80