Why England's Golden Generation Never Won a Trophy: Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole & Peter Crouch

**Rio Ferdinand** (0:02)
The 1990 World Cup was pivotal for me, watching Gaza. I remember thinking in my bedroom watching it, but I want to be that.

**Joe Cole** (0:09)
I was unbelievably proud, and the pride that I took walking out, and again, like I say, knowing you're one of the best in your country, never left me, but I never enjoyed the games.

**Peter Crouch** (0:20)
My mum and dad and sister in the crowd, and the whole stand and the whole stadium were booing me because of maybe a little campaign against me.

**Jake Humphrey** (0:32)
The World Cup is almost here. I don't know about you, I'm excited. And I wanted to go back to a conversation we had with three men who lived in, arguably, England's greatest era of players, and never got it over the line. I'm talking in this case about Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch and Joe Cole. Between the three of them, they've got over 200 caps, and were part of what's known as the Golden Generation. That great group of English players, the best we've had in decades. But why did it never happen?
What we found in this conversation is honestly one of the most open, fascinating breakdowns of what can go wrong inside the winning environment. And it's a story that can only be told long after the event has happened.
So with England heading into another tournament, I think it's more relevant now than ever. And maybe this time, they're going to get it right.

**Jake Humphrey** (1:28)
When I talk about playing for England, first of all, I'd love to hear from all three of you about the emotion that that brings up. What's the first thing you think about when I talk about your England careers?

**Joe Cole** (1:38)
For me personally, I was just full.
I am one of the best players in the country now. Because you never really think about that when you're on your way up, when you're on a journey to get to the pinnacle, which was playing for your country, I was growing up at West Ham at the Academy there. Joe was just underneath. And it's like, that's an achievement to get in the West Ham first team and then you're setting new targets. And it's always like England's the one though.
Because at that point, you're not thinking about winning. It's just getting into the first team, becoming a pro. And then if you can get into the England team and set your new goals and achieve that. And when that call comes or the facts that I got, it was just like, first you want to tell your mum. We spoke about this the other day, didn't we? You want to tell your mum, go home and tell your mates on your estate. And then you do settle into your bed or your sofa at some point. And that day and go, I am actually one of the best in this country.

**Peter Crouch** (2:32)
Yeah, I've got to take that on. I remember South Africa World Cup 2010 I was on the golf course and I remember getting a call from Franco Baldini saying that you're going to the World Cup. And I've got the call and he said, by the way, you're going to be number nine. Right, so then obviously I straight away, the first person I'll call is my dad always. I call my dad and I said, dad, go to the World Cup and I'm wearing number nine. And then obviously he put in perspective for me because I thought, great man, it's the World Cup, that was all I thought about. Then he thought actually, he broke it down for me and said, think about how many boys and girls like play football in England or English, who dream of playing for England. Think of how many people make it as a professional footballer. Think of how many people get the chance to play for England. Then think of how many people get the chance to play for England in a World Cup. Then think about how many people want to wear the number nine. I'm like, on this particular occasion, it was me.
Then when he broke it down like that, I started getting goosebumps. I'm thinking, oh my God, this is really prestigious.
Then Capello proceeded to play me for three minutes and I was gone.

**Rio Ferdinand** (3:40)
You must have, knowing you was going up for the next T-shot, you must have been confident.

**Peter Crouch** (3:44)
It was on the 18th. England's number nine. I wasn't answering for the first 18 Obviously, you don't answer your phone, do you? On the 18th, I went, what is this number?