Does England have enough firepower to end 46 years of international heartbreak?

Alf Ramsey, Bobby Charlton, West Germany, 1966; England fans have an outlook strikingly similar to that of Liverpool fans (though the predicament is far more severe in England’s case), constantly having to harp back to past glories.

England are the most reputed big game bottlers of any team in any form of football in the world – club or country, cup or league, league or non-league. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, Fabio Capello was unable to address this issue. In fact he helped build this already formidable reputation of theirs in the 2010 World Cup. But after being given the sack following the entire John Terry affair, and Roy Hodgson’s appointment a month ago, England seem to have gained some semblance of stability and understanding hitherto unheard of.

Hodgson’s side do not play a brand of particularly attractive football, but they don’t need to, their strength lies elsewhere, and as it is, at this stage the results matter than the means. A team built solidly around their defence, England finally know what it is they want to do, unlike the rudderless barges of yore. Players as unspectacular as James Milner and Scott Parker are essential cogs in this machinery, and are vital for the long-term health of the side.

The short-term results too, haven’t been altogether ugly, rather fairly positive, what with them topping Group D in the European Championships. And the likes of Theo Walcott, and more surprisingly Andy Carroll, have stepped up to the plate when their country needed it the most.

Hodgson, in the shortest periods, seems to have built up great amounts of team confidence, and despite luck evading him in several instances with injuries galore, he has steered his team into a zone of comfort in which a semi-final berth at a major competition is now feasible. Wayne Rooney‘s absence did not harm the team much, and they escaped unscathed. In fact, he is now rested, refreshed and raring to go, as he showed against Ukraine, and will be hoping to show against the Italians, a far more challenging prospect.

For once, the English don’t seem to be afraid of going about things, as they once were, and the team seems to have enough depth and firepower to get through the tough situations. Provided they dispose of Italy tonight (which is no cakewalk), they will face hurdles as immense as they get when they come up against Spain. But if they were to end up bowing out against La Roja, consolation would be taken from the fact that England are one of the four best sides in Europe.

But tonight’s clash against Italy is a tricky one, but one which England are armed to battle. Italy’s primary weapon is Andrea Pirlo, and nullifying him would void most of Italy’s ability, with not too many other creative players in the side. Ashley Young has been surprisingly uninvolved with his teams best play, and looks a shadow of the player who was instrumental in his teams success in the Qualifiers, and friendlies. Sacrificing him in favour of Theo Walcott would be tinkering with a winning formula, but it’d enable Milner to move out left and Walcott to charge at Italy’s weak defence.

The situations are endless, and the possibilities are mind-boggling, but the game is football, and after an insane amount of time do England look like they could pull off something special. Now is their time, like never before.