Former England forward, Chris Sutton, has bemoaned the Three Lions’ lacklustre display against Gli Azzurri [The Blues] of Italy in the UEFA Nations League, and now doubts the Gareth Southgate men’s capability to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Three Lions were beaten 1-0 by the Azzurri on Friday, September 23 at the San Siro Stadium in Italy. Giacomo Raspadori scored the only goal of the game in the 68th minute.
And consequently, England have been relegated to the League B of the UEFA Nations League.
Sutton doubts England’s ability to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup going by what he saw during the encounter.
“If what Gareth Southgate wanted was a performance then this wasn’t it,” Sutton wrote in his Daily Mail column.
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“It wasn’t the kind of performance that makes you think as a fan that England are going to win the World Cup.
“When Southgate plays bigger sides he’s going to go with a back three but it was all pretty lacklustre. Whether previous results played into their minds, I’m not sure but there was a real lack of rhythm and continuity.”
Sutton added: “They didn’t get flowing all night, neither side did. It’s amazing to think these two were supposedly the best sides on the continent when they got to the final of the Euros last year.
“England won’t win in Qatar by playing the teams off the pitch and they certainly looked more of a threat on the counter.”
England are in Group B at the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Wales, the United States of America (USA), and Iran.
The Three Lions did not play in the FIFA World Cup until the 1950 tournament which was hosted by Brazil. They qualified for all the FIFA World Cups after 1950 except West Germany 1974, Argentina ’78, and the USA ’94.
England won the 1966 FIFA World Cup on home soil and they ended up in the fourth position in Italia ’90 and Russia 2018.
By Toju Sote
