During a training session leading to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Olaf Mellberg hacked down an established Freddie Ljungberg resulting in Freddie going for Mellberg’s throat before being separated by teammates.
Mellberg apologised publicly but the damage had been done, and two camps emerged from the Swedish side: Mellberg and Zlatan against Ljungberg; with Henrik Larsson being a somewhat mediator.
The divided Swedish side managed to finish above Argentina in the group stages of that tournament, but never reached their potential despite being Sweden’s golden era.
Seventeen years later and a promising England side face a similar incident.
After Manchester City were defeated by Liverpool this month, the Lions faced their final two fixtures of the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
On the first day Sterling grabbed Gomez by the throat questioning if “he was still the big man?” following an on field incident when the two clubs met.
Southgate and his players decided a one match omission for Sterling was punishment enough for his actions, with Sterling also making a public apology to Gomez.
But has the damage already been done? Gomez was booed by his own supporters against Montenegro, overshadowing a great performance by the side.
Southgate condemned the booing, rightfully claiming no player should be booed when representing his own country.
It is too early to predict the long term effects of this incident. Will England be divided and underperform like the Swedish side of 2002? Or will Southgate bring harmony back to the Lions in time for the Euros next year?
Only time will tell…
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