England's 60 years of football heartache: 'We've lacked that little extra'

England, the birthplace of modern football and home to the world's premier league, faces a persistent and perplexing question: why does the national team consistently falter in major tournaments? Sixty years have passed since their solitary World Cup triumph in 1966, and the cycle of near-misses and dramatic exits continues to baffle fans and pundits alike.

"It's a very good question. I am as perplexed as you are," admits Arne Scheie, a veteran commentator who witnessed England's 1966 victory. He points to the "golden generation" featuring players like Rooney and Lampard, suggesting they should have achieved more. Scheie, like many, struggles to pinpoint a single reason, highlighting instances of red cards, injuries, questionable substitutions, or missed penalties that have derailed promising campaigns.

Trevor Morley, an Englishman who has lived in Norway for years and served as a pundit, believes England had their strongest team in 1970 but faltered due to Bobby Charlton's substitution and Gordon Banks' illness. He argues that since the advent of the Premier League in the 1990s, there are "no excuses" for not achieving more, attributing the failures to a lack of "that little extra" and perhaps insufficient belief. Morley also notes the irony of the song "Three Lions," which lamented "Thirty years of hurt" after 1996; that pain has now doubled to 60 years.

Morley credits former manager Gareth Southgate for bringing England back into contention but suggests that a lack of boldness in crucial matches might have cost them tournament victories. He muses that perhaps a German manager, like Thomas Tuchel, might bring the necessary courage, though he acknowledges that tournament success often feels like a lottery. England's history in these lotteries, however, has been particularly painful.

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Etter at Premier League ble startet opp på 90-tallet og vi fikk den beste ligaen, så finnes det ingen unnskyldninger. Men vi har manglet det lille ekstra. Og vi har kanskje heller ikke trodd nok på det. I tillegg har det jo vært røde kort, straffekonker og annullerte mål.