How many times have we seen a Steven Gerrard assist for a Luis Suarez goal? It would pain anyone with a trace of compassion to report that Gerrard helped lay on both goals for his Liverpool team-mate, as his own time in an England shirt approached a cruel conclusion.
Gerrard has endured a wretched spring and summer. A great career is becoming littered with horrible moments. His miss-control and slip at Anfield against Chelsea helped steer the Premier League title to Manchester City. Here in Sao Paulo he was at fault in midfield before Edinson Cavani chipped a ball for Luis Suarez to head Uruguay’s first goal and again when he directed a long clearance into the path of his Merseyside colleague for Uruguay’s winner.
You come all the way to Brazil just to watch the Premier League’s best footballer do what he did all season back in England: finish with lethal precision. Only this time it was not Norwich on the receiving end. A Norwegian reporter reminded the England manager, Roy Hodgson, that Suarez had been in a wheelchair a month ago. Well, Lazarus has almost certainly ended England’s stay in Shangri-la. Suraez has beaten some high-class Premier League defenders in his time. On a cold night in Concrete City he destroyed one of the worst defences England have taken to a tournament in quite a long time.
To stomp on Gerrard’s record as a footballer is not a temptation. But nor can we ignore his part in England’s defeat here. One of the few leaders in a quiet squad, Hodgson’s captain and oldest player probably has one more game in international football, against Costa Rica next week. He has given his all for his country when the temptation was to retire from international football after Euro 2012 and concentrate on his quest for a first Premier League winners’ medal. Sticking with England, though, has left many fine players humbled and even humiliated.
You need more than a nice new manifesto to thrive at this level. There is the core of a good new England team here in Brazil but they are not good enough yet to cope with fellow World Cup winners such as Uruguay and Italy.