World Cup 2018: Jordan Pickford and Harry Maguire are far from England’s weak links… they were the best on the pitch against Sweden
IF opposition scouts were looking for weak links in England’s World Cup line-up, they might not have searched much further than Jordan Pickford and Harry Maguire.
The Everton stopper was supposedly too inexperienced, too short and merely the best of a bad goalkeeping bunch.
And Leicester’s Maguire was reckoned to be little more than an old-school English centre-back, remarkable only for the size of the bonce which earned him the nickname Slabhead.
Well Maguire has every reason to be big-headed now.
That massive noggin of his has headed England into their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years and only their third of all-time.
Boss Gareth Southgate described him as "a giant in both boxes" and revealed he had needed to help with his self-confidence.
Meanwhile, Pickford was criticised by Gary Neville and described as "too short" by Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois after defeat in the final group game.
Now this cheerful Mackem must feel 10ft tall after three stunning second-half saves maintained England’s grip on the biggest game of their lives.
Southgate describes him as "the prototype modern keeper" and was as delighted with his distribution as his saves.
Maguire was winning just his tenth cap and Pickford his eighth.
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Yet in terms of international performance they have already surpassed all of their nation’s Golden Generation.
They are where Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar and every footballer in Germany wished they could be.
Ninety minutes away from the World Cup final — an occasion no Englishman has ever graced on foreign soil, save for a couple of referees.
Pickford and Maguire are the unlikeliest of all these England unlikely lads.
It is a squad with less individual talent and less celebrity than their recent predecessors and yet it is undoubtedly our best team unit for 20 years or more.
This was England’s biggest win since 1990 but Gareth Southgate’s team barely celebrated it at the final whistle.
You might not have noticed it while carousing with friends and family at pubs or barbecues but this was a bizarrely flat occasion to be at.
It was quite unlike the crackling hostility, gripping tension and brutal street-brawling of Tuesday’s victory over Colombia.
Instead, this was a match lacking tempo, against a poor Sweden side devoid of genuine menace until Dele Alli headed England into a 2-0 lead.
It was played out in a flat atmosphere, with few partisan supporters for either side in distant Samara, a time zone further than Moscow, but a town which will now go down in English folklore.
The Three Lions’ subdued reaction to victory was a good sign, a suggestion they wanted to conserve as much emotional energy as possible for a very winnable semi-final in Moscow on Wednesday.
The Swedes had eliminated Holland, Italy and Germany on their way here and yet are a far less starry group, even than this likeably modest English side.
They included players who represent FC Copenhagen, Hull and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates and for long periods it showed.
Southgate’s men looked nervous and perhaps weary in the early stages — until they won a corner, the award of which are now greeted like penalties in England.
Ashley Young delivered from the left and Maguire charged like a raging bull past Emil Forsberg to wallop home his header.
There was something cartoonish about the ferocity of it, the sort of goal Captain Caveman might have scored.
Maguire was soon buried under a joyous pile-up of bodies. They all love the big Sheffield man.
Jamie Vardy, who had revealed his Slabhead nickname, had turned up at a Maguire press conference and asked him for the diameter of his head.
Soon after the final whistle, Kyle Walker was gently rinsing him for a photo in which he looked like he was trying to charm his girlfriend by telling her, "Yeah so a good header doesn’t hurt.
"I mean the moment you head it proper, you feel it’s a good one. Know what I mean love?"
By this stage England had scored ten goals at this World Cup — four from corners, three from penalties, one from a free-kick routine, one a complete fluke and one belter from Jesse Lingard against Panama.
Raheem Sterling, brilliant apart from his finishing, should have made it 2-0 at half-time from Jordan Henderson’s lofted through-ball.
After the break it was all about Pickford, who kept his first clean sheet here and has now surpassed all England keepers other than Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton.
Pickford plunged low to his left to keep out Marcus Berg and soon after Dele’s goal he reacted smartly to thwart a Viktor Claesson effort when Sweden suddenly produced the game’s best passing move.
Late on he tipped over a Berg effort to banish any possible wobbles.
And he might yet gain revenge on Courtois in next Sunday’s final.
After his man-of-the-match press conference he left the room whistling a happy tune he’d picked up from those hardy supporters who made it all the way here.
It’s the one which says that "England’s going all the way". And, you know what? They really might be too.