On a night when Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari embarrassed himself in Lisbon, England coach Steve McClaren out-coached the great tactician Guus Hiddink at Wembley, trouncing the Dutchman’s organized Russian side, 3-0. It was a remarkable turn of events for the two coaches; before the latest round of Euro 2008 qualifiers, McClaren’s job was hanging by a thread while Scolari looked as comfortable as ever in the position he’s held since the 2002 World Cup. And as everyone knows, the English love to revel in Portuguese misfortune.
Scolari’s stars under-performed while McClaren’s emergency-call ups played so well — the 3-0 victories against Israel and Russia were by far England’s best performances of the qualifiers — the likes of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Owen Hargreaves and David Beckham might find themselves without a job when they return from injury next month. As the Guardian’s Richard Williams says, “McClaren must be rubbing his eyes at the wonder of it all.”
But most important, it’s the England coach who deserves the credit. McClaren might have been vilified for the decision to recall Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey had they not proved to be the perfect replacements for Hargreaves and Rooney. Heskey was a particularly gutsy choice; the Wigan forward was preferred to the likes of Peter Crouch, Andrew Johnson and Jermain Defoe, all of whom have featured regularly for England over the last few years while Heskey has not. So whither, indeed, Rooney, Becks, Hargreaves and Lampard once they return from injury? McClaren would be well within his right to stay with a winning formula.