England's Road To South Africa (2009)

Under the guidance of legendary manager Fabio Capello the England team have been transformed from a team in disarray and a national laughing stock to potential World Cup winners. Led by captain John Terry and inspired by the brilliance of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney amongst others the team have set a new national record with seven consecutive qualification victories, in the process scoring more goals than any other team.
'England s Road to South Africa' follows the team throughout their memorable qualification journey beginning with the opening victory over Andorra through to the final group games against Ukraine and Belarus
'England s Road to South Africa' will offer a unique and intimate look at one of the teams who are favourites to win the 2010 World Cup and offers a chance to get up close and personal with some of the game's most famous stars. For football fans of all ages around the world this programme will make compulsive and unforgettable viewing.

[@discreetelite]

This reminds you of how amazing Rooney was in this era. What a player.

[@DaytimeDannyPhairy]

that's me as a mascot with Lampard 8:49, great memory

[@HHHBFResurrected]

Ah the Capello days. Pretty much flawless except for the only four games that actually mattered lol He's the reference point to turn to when people criticize Southgate for things like getting relegated from the Nation's League - as if that means anything. Gimme an England team & manager who's meh but shows up for the actual tournaments over one that blitz's qualifying but chokes any day of the week. How Capello wasn't sacked after South Africa still astonishes me. Quite possibly the biggest anti-climax I've ever experienced as a football fan.

[@adamw2911]

Capello was the perfect managerial candidate on paper. I do think he was let down badly by his players in 2010 though. Also injuries didn't help. Anyone who has to field Upson against Germany is onto a loser....

[@HHHBFResurrected]

@@adamw2911 I think the FA might've been reeling a little after Mourinho turned it down, who back then truly was the perfect choice for the job. Had convinced themselves it had to be as big of a name as him. I thought he was too old school for it and his English was pretty bad. I don't mind the England manager not being English but being able to speak the language coherently should be a requirement.

[@brosephyolonarovichstalin2915]

Germany have been in Englands heads u til we beat them in the Euros 2-0 recently. They had a massive psychological advantage over us. Lampards goal wasn’t allowed either. I just think Capello was a limited English barbarian of a manager but South Africa was no one persons fault. Matthew Upson centre half? That’s a red flag in itself.

[@iTylerHimself]

I remember watching that game against Croatia where Walcott scored the hat-trick as if it were only yesterday, pretty much the only thing he ever did of note in an England shirt. It's absolutely mental that it was also the game where Mandzukic scored his first International goal haha. Mad to think that England have made a World Cup semi and quarter-final and a Euros final in the last three major tournaments and yet still some people complain, despite how bad we were for so long. With a bit more luck and a more tactically astute manager they could have easily won two of those tournaments.

[@Karma2Babylon]

Capello was an tactically astute manager, but some England players used to play with too little game intelligence when under pressure and would waste too much energy failing to do the basics right. * watch the replay of Germany’s 3rd goal (against England in South Africa) and pay attention to the dumbfuckery of Glen Johnson for that goal. There’s just some things that a player doesn’t need to be told by a manager.

[@eatmywords]

they complain because we can't beat quality

[@iTylerHimself]

@@eatmywords Why, because we lost by one goal against France in a game where going into extra-time was the least we deserved? People always mention that they were without Benzema, Kante and Pogba, but never mention that England were also without our two best full-backs in James and Chilwell. So both teams were missing key players in that game, not just France. When we lost to Croatia in the World Cup semi-final they were an outstanding side at the peak of their powers and were just a bit too experienced for us back then.

[@eatmywords]

@@iTylerHimself we're just not that good, despite having some of the most expensive players in the world. what world class team have we beaten in a tournament? none. we couldn't even beat the 10 men of Brazil in 2002. in 2018 we couldn't beat Belgium at the second time of asking; in fact, they managed to improve on their 1-0 win in the group stage by winning 2-0. So, theoretically we got worse by the time we reached the play-off. Even 1966 is in doubt. The English style of play really hasn't changed all that much since 1966. It's slow and methodical, and boring. They zig-zag the ball up the pitch in the vain hope of reaching the opposition's 18-yard box. You time how long it took Croatia to get up into an attacking position in the 2018 semis. And them time how long it took England. Go back 10 years, and it's basically the same. By the time England get up the pitch in numbers, the opposition have not only got all their men back, they've managed to stabilise their formation. Predictable. So predictable. 2 penalties to draw with France, and we couldn't even manage that. Southgate hasn't implemented anything radical into the English game, he plays safe. The Euros and the World Cup, we got the easy routes. Once we managed to beat the mighty Senegal, we met our match. Yes, we put up a good fight, but good fighters don't always win. We couldn't even beat the USA in the group stage. Even Iran managed to put 2 goals in. It's a pattern that rarely changes. Maybe a great player like Rooney, or Owen will come along and invigorate the midfield or attack, but that's on an individual basis. Imagine if Klopp had taken over the English game in 2016, and then implemented his gengenpresse into the English game. Would England be playing like Liverpool between 2018-21? The reason why we don't beat the great teams of the world is because England always play it safe. Either they're being instructed to play that way, or they're too afraid of being booed off the pitch; or on it when they get back home.

[@Onmysheet]

It was so disappointing England didn't qualify for Euro 2008. All the players were at their absolute prime at that point. Gerrard in 2004 had a lot of experience before that Euros but his prime didn't arrive until late 2004, Rooney wasn't injured and unfit like he was in 2006 & 2010, Crouch was at his peak.

[@samcovington4328]

Bring back England s Dream Ticket road to 2002 World Cup Finals

[@r7..48]

had this on dvd when I was younger brilliant watch

[@johnhehir508]

Qualified for south Africa, And get a tournament with a modified football that killed set pieces , Germany played whole season with modified ball, South Africa was a disastrous tournament,with Frank lampards equaliser disallowed ,And calamity James in full swing,

[@Feedthegoat]

For some stupid reason, the final game against Ukraine wasn’t even televised! You had to pay £4.99/illegal stream to watch it on the internet. The national team, in a competitive fixture! (Albeit dead rubber)

[@rohithraman6488]

Imagine how much hype there would have been about Theo Walcott after that Croatia game

[@ryanhudson2650]

Imagine? We remember 🤦‍♂️ the lad was just a kid

[@rohithraman6488]

@@ryanhudson2650 yeah sure I wasn't watching football during that game I started following it in 2010 just before the wc haha, but I do know there would have been "English messi" headlines or something like that

[@josephdoyle8399]

Haha where’s their actual 2010 World Cup night lights? Please upload them next? 🙏 England in South Africa 2010 were comically entertaining 🤣 and gave me a right laugh 😂

[@mikemurphy8996]

Rooney and Gerrard were Englands only world class players that year.

[@countbasi4680]

Freeze at 1:09:21. How far is he off his line? A new guessing game for YT.

[@ay613]

I love England England is my city

[@mikemurphy8996]

Looking back, Capella was not the right choice. If you consider yourself the centre of the football world like England does, you should at least hire a English manager.

[@guitarreilly]

only us english would make a documentary about qualifying for a world cup. Embarrassing

[@michaelg3671]

Having finished 3rd in Euro 2008 qualifying (Behind Croatia and Russia), it was a success!

[@charliegates3556]

I mean having knocking Croatia out and letting have Ukraine (discreetly) have second place on us, it was worth watching/reminiscing.

[@brosephyolonarovichstalin2915]

Scotland would but they aren’t good enough 😂😂