The last England side to beat Italy – Where are they now?
- •
- 33 reads
- •
- 261 views
- •
- 10 min read
England’s World Cup preparations will continue on Tuesday evening when they host Italy at Wembley Stadium.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Italians will not be using the game to prepare for the summer tournament in Russia as they didn’t qualify, so they are looking to begin a new era and get themselves in the best possible position to ensure they they are ready when the Euro 2020 qualification process begins.
The last meeting between the two countries took place in 2015 and ended as a 1-1 draw. The game previous to that took place at the 2014 World Cup, a game which Italy won 2-1, thanks to a goal from Mario Balotelli.
In fact, we have to go back to August 2012 to find the last time England defeated the Italians. The friendly game, which took place in Bern, Switzerland, came just weeks after Italy had knocked England out of Euro 2012 on penalties. England came from 1-0 down to win 2-1.
A lot has changed in the six years since this game took place, we’ve taken a look at the players who featured in the game to see where they are now:
Jack Butland
When Joe Hart withdrew due to a back injury, Jack Butland was named in the starting elevne for this friendly. In the process, he became the youngest ever England international goalkeeper, aged 19 years 158 days.
At the time, he was at Birmingham City, now, he is at Stoke City and is in the midst of a relegation battle. He’s also in a battle with the likes of Hart and Jordan Pickford to be England’s number one at the upcoming World Cup.
Kyle Walker
Kyle Walker missed Euro 2012 with a toe injury, but he returned to full fitness and started at right-back in Bern. At the time, he was the PFA Young Player of the Year, having beat the likes of Serigo Aguero and Gareth Bale to the award thanks to his great season with Tottenham,
Walker moved to Manchester City last summer in a £50m deal. He’s already won a League Cup winners medal and he’ll soon be picking up a Premier League winners medal too. Injury permitting, he’ll be starting for England at the World Cup, either at full-back or as part of a back three.
Gary Cahill
Gary Cahill also missed Euro 2012 due to injury. He suffered a broken jaw when Belgium’s Dries Mertens pushed him into Hart during a warm-up game, but he was back fit for this friendly.
Cahill has struggled for form recently and has been dropped from both the Chelsea starting XI and Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
Phil Jagielka
Defender Phil Jagielka scored England’s first goal in this game.
He’s still at Everton now and aged 35, he’s not officially retired from international duty but is unlikely to feature again for the national side.
Leighton Baines
Playing in place of Ashley Cole, 2012 was when Baines started his push to make the left back spot his own, which he did for a few years.
Aged 33, he too has not officially retired from England duty but he’s unlikely to be selected again.
Michael Carrick
It’s quite amazing that Michael Carrick only won 34 England caps but that’s all he ever got. One of them came as he started in a deeper role in this game, and he finished the game as captain.
He is still playing for Manchester United but has announced that he will retire at the end of the season.
Tom Cleverley
One of Tom Cleverley’s 13 caps for England came in this game, where he got the nod after regaining his place in the Man United first-team.
He’s not played for England since 2013 but will be hoping to continue to do well at Watford and thus earn himself a recall.
Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard captained England in this game, one of the 106 he played for his country. He went on to have two more years at Chelsea before agreeing to join Manchester City for a season, before jetting off to the MLS to end his career.
He is now a pundit on BT Sports’ TV coverage.
Ashley Young
Then playing as an attacking winger, Ashley Young was near the beginning of his Manchester United career.
After a few years in the wilderness, he’s now back featuring for United as a left-back and is back in the England fold.
After not being called up to the national team for almost four years, he was recalled by Southgate for the friendlies against Germany and Brazil in November 2017 and he’s likely to go to the World Cup, where he’ll be pushing to start at left-back.
Adam Johnson
This game took place a week before Adam Johnson left Manchester City to join his hometown team Sunderland for £10 million.
He is now in prison after being sentenced to six years when he was found guilty of sexual activity with a child.
Andy Carroll
Andy Carroll was still on the books at Liverpool in 2012 and started this game as a loan striker.
He’s currently injured, as he often has been, and is highly unlikely to be in Southgate’s World Cup squad.
Sub: John Ruddy
John Ruddy’s only international cap came in this game. He was part of the original Euro 2012 squad but missed out on the tournament due to a broken finger.
He came on at half-time in Bern and didn’t concede a goal.
Aged 31, he’s currently at Wolves, where he looks set to get promoted back to the Premier League. He’ll be hoping to play well in the top flight next year and perhaps earn an England recall.
Sub: Jermain Defoe
Jermain Defoe scored England’s winning goal in the game after coming on for Carroll at half-time.
After not featuring for England since 2013, his good form at Sunderland saw him recalled in 2017, where scored in a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania.
Now at Bournemouth, he’s not playing regularly and it looks like he won’t make the World Cup squad this summer.
Sub: Joleon Lescott
Back in 2012, Joleon Lescott was playing regularly in Manchester City’s side. His form dipped massively and he didn’t play for England after 2013.
He’s now working at Man City in a non-playing role as he helps look after all of the City players who are on loan at other clubs.
Sub: James Milner
One of James Milner’s 61 England caps came during this game, when he replaced Ashely Young.
At the time, he’d just won a league title with Man City, and he went on to do that once more before joining Liverpool in 2015.
He still features regularly for the Reds, but he retired from international duty in 2016.
Sub: Jake Livermore
Jake Livermore also made his England debut in this game, he was a Spurs player at the time.
He didn’t play again for his country for five years until, in 2017, he was recalled by Southgate.
He is in the squad to face Italy this week and looks a good bet to be one of the 23 player who go to the World Cup, despite his inconsistent performances for West Brom.
Sub: Ryan Bertrand
Ryan Bertrand also made his England debut in the game, and cleared a shot off the line from his now Southampton teammate Manolo Gabbiadini.
At the time, he was at Chelsea and has just played in the Champions League final.
Now, he’s at Southampton, and is in the midst of a relegation battle. He looks certain to be in the World Cup squad.