England back on the big stage

England's fans and media are infamous for their unrealistic expectations. Some might say it's ambition, but when Sven-Göran Eriksson was in charge of the Three Lion's the achievement of three consecutive quarter-final places in major competitions, a record only matched by Brazil, wasn't valued enough. They got a lesson when Eriksson finally left and Steve McClaren was handed the job. Reality hit and the team didn't make it to EURO 2008 finals. But now there's a new man in charge. Fabio Capello has the pressure on him to deliver the first major trophy since the World Cup triumph of 1966, or at least make it to the semi-finals, which England last did in EURO 1996.

It's possibly the last chance for some of the England's "Golden Generation" members to finally leave a mark of themselves at a major competition. David James, Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham, Frank Lampard to name a few broke into the England squad at the same period of time.

The World Cup 2002 was looked like the tournament, which the side should've delivered, but it didn't happened. Same was expected from EURO 2004, with Wayne Rooney injected to the squad, but again they failed. After that it seems like the peak has passed. Players are in their 30's and slowly fading from the top stage of the footballing world, but can Fabio Capello maybe squeeze the last out of them?

Coming with vast experience and knowledge of the game, no doubt only great results are expected. And judging from the start of the era, the expectations might not be very far off. You can say the team breezed through qualification for the World Cup 2010, winning 9 of the 10 matches and only losing the one, when qualification was already clear. But what's worrying is that the team haven't won matches versus the bigger, more serious opposition. England have lost to France, Spain, and more recently, to Brazil. Only managing to beat Germany. Of course you can say that friendlies don't matter, but you'd expect at least for a draw when playing against opposition in the same mold as yourself.

But a big part that sets Capello apart from his predecessors, is that he isn't afraid to leave the big names of out the team. David Beckham has been a victim of this, but is he really a victim.?When Beckham was at Real Madrid and Capello took charge he dropped the Englishman, only for the one time Three Lions to improve his form and fight his way back into the team. Beckham of course then left for USA, but since Capello took over England the same case has applied.

When Beckham gave up the captaincy after the failure in Germany 2006, it was also seen as a international retiring by many. And it was at first, but again the right-midfielder fought his way back into the team after getting a kick to his backside. His willingness of being part of the England side was really remarkable and lead to his loan-deal at AC Milan earlier in the year.

Beckham is set to return to Milan next year to keep himself under the eye of Capello and be in shape for the World Cup. While he hasn't been part of the latest squads that Capello has picked, there is no doubt in my mind we'll see the World's highest paid footballer in World Cup 2010. This will be the last chance for the "Golden Generation" of England to finally leave their mark in football history.