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‘English football is a tanker that needs turning,’ said Greg Dyke, newly appointed FA chairman.
It was September 2013 and England had not passed the quarter-finals of any major tournament since Euro 1996, failing to qualify for Euro 2008.
They were knocked out by an Andrea Pirlo-inspired Italy a year earlier in the Euro 2012 quarter-final.
In 2013, Greg Dyke, newly appointed FA chairman, set the target for England to win the 2022 World Cup. Sportsmail looks at what happened to the players tipped to bring football home
Dyke knew something needed to change and boldly set the target for England to win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Dyke’s idea of that World Cup-winning XI back in 2013 might have been very different to what Gareth Southgate’s team will look like.
What happened to the players tipped to bring football home and where are they now? Sportsmail takes a look…
Goalkeeper: Jack Butland
Butland was fast-tracked to the England squad for Euro 2012 aged 19, in a shock call while on loan at League Two Cheltenham Town.
This demonstrated how highly he was rated and legendary goalkeeper Gordon Banks backed him to be England’s long-term No 1 Butland also represented Great Britain at London 2012.
Unfortunately a combination of a fractured ankle in 2016 playing for England and a dramatic loss of form for Stoke meant Butland was dropped from Southgate’s squad in 2019. The last of his nine caps was in 2018.
Butland is now second-choice keeper at Crystal Palace but has been ever-present in their run to the FA Cup semi-finals.
Jack Butland was dropped from Gareth Southgate’s squad in 2019. His last cap was in 2018
Right back: Chris Smalling
Once labelled as one of the top three defenders in the world by Wayne Rooney, Smalling made more than 300 appearances for Manchester United.
By 2013 he established himself as part of United’s future having won two Premier League titles. He was seen as a long-term replacement for the ageing pair of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja…
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Source : dailymail
