The match with Ukraine in Donetsk will see the return of Wayne Rooney to the starting 11 following suspension.
Rooney’s presence on the scene will certainly lift the hope that England supporters have but what the Three Lions do have is a natural leader who made his national debut 12 years ago.
When England beat Germany at Euro 2000 in Charleroi through an Alan Shearer header, a young 20-year-old from Whiston came on to only make his second ever appearance for his country. His name: Steven George Gerrard.
Since his youthful debut then, he has developed into a natural leader, a creative star, a regular goalscorer and an inspiration to many youngsters within the country.
As England reaches its crucial moment in Euro 2012, it is time to look at Liverpool and England’s leader, Steven Gerrard: Captain Fantastic.
The right choice
Gerrard has captained England before at a major tournament but that was only after natural captain Rio Ferdinand got injured and was ruled out of the 2010 World Cup.
The experience in South Africa was a disaster for anyone associated with England. The squad were locked away in Rustenberg, there were rumblings of team mutiny and Fabio Capello’s lack of enthusiasm was evident to see.
Gerrard’s performances were below-par but it had nothing to do with the captaincy issue.
Whatever people think of John Terry as a person, he is also a fantastic leader and this has been proven many a time for his club, Chelsea.
However once Terry was stripped of the captaincy by the FA in February, days before Capello walked out on the job, there was only one man who could be given responsibility for the national side.
Roy Hodgson made the right choice in appointing the 32-year-old midfielder as captain and his choice has already been fully vindicated.
Midfield partnership
Throughout his England career, Steven Gerrard has worked with a number of different partners in the centre of midfield.
He never has had the right balance in this support for country, like he has had with Dietmar Hamann, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano to name a few at Liverpool.
Hodgson has shown his experience by pairing Gerrard with Scott Parker in the centre of the park.
Parker can sit and hold the play up, plus be the protecting shield to the centre backs at Euro 2012, Terry and Joleon Lescott.
This allows Gerrard to focus on the most industrious part of his game and link-up, provide crosses and create the opportunities for the attackers.
With Frank Lampard, the partnership never worked and even if the Chelsea midfielder and Gareth Barry had been fit, Gerrard and Parker would be the natural midfield partnership.
They work hard for each other and with their natural positions, their regular performance for domestic club shines through now for country.
Excellent energy
There were question marks about Gerrard’s stamina and fitness as a recurring groin injury has restricted his playing time in the last year at Anfield.
He has shown no signs of a needing a rest. In fact, he has shown excellent energy levels and the way he was still running around against Sweden in stoppage time shows he clearly has been working on his fitness.
We’ve seen two sides to Gerrard’s game so far at Euro 2012 and there are no signs of criticism that can be levelled.
Against France, Hodgson went with a cautious approach but it worked as the Three Lions battled humid temperatures to grab a 1-1 draw.
Gerrard produced a magnificent free-kick delivery for Lescott to score his first international goal and when required, he sat alongside Parker and got in the way of regular French pressure.
There wasn’t any need for this when battle lines were drawn with the Swedes. His vision and accuracy in picking out Liverpool team-mate Andy Carroll for England’s first goal was unbelievable.
Despite the shaky start to the second half, heads didn’t drop and Gerrard kept the side motivated. Add the injection of pace that Theo Walcott brought into the game and the fightback was successfully achieved.
Important role
On paper, England’s task against Ukraine looks simple. One point required against a team that is ranked 52nd in the world according to the FIFA rankings and behind the likes of Armenia, Gabon & Venezuela.
However we saw what happened to Russia when they needed just a point. They continued their history of choking and have made a shock early departure from the tournament.
It is essential that focus is maintained and Gerrard will be instrumental to that.
Hodgson will look to his captain to rally the troops and keep in mind the job in hand, by winning the game and allowing a better chance of avoiding the formidable Spanish in the quarter-finals.
It will be a tense night for some of the youngsters who haven’t experienced this situation before on the international stage. Gerrard will have an important role to ease Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott into the occasion.
As Horatio Nelson famously said; “England expects that every man will do his duty.”
The time has almost arrived for the starting eleven to carry out the task in hand and make it as relaxing as possible for those in the Donbass Arena and the millions watching on TV.
Captain fantastic Steven Gerrard has a big responsibility but he has never hidden away from responsibility in the past. As far as I’m concerned, this match will underline his importance to the national side.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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