For football journalists, Friday’s England match against Scotland was depressingly familiar

This summer’s showpiece football competition is like no other. Even before the pandemic kicked it back 12 months in the calendar, this was set to be a very different European Championships, with multiple host countries and games all over the continent.

Covid looms large and there are, understandably, few fans in the stadiums – unless you’re in Budapest – while players and staff continue to be struck down by the virus even as the football plays on.

It’s a competition of new beginnings, then – unless you’re England.

Fresh from an impressive opening win over Croatia, optimism was high when the Three Lions welcomed old rivals Scotland to Wembley on Friday night.

That optimism soon dissipated, however, with an altogether lifeless performance and a goalless draw on home soil that leaves qualification for the knockout stages still to be secured.

Credit must go to the Scots, who played up to the occasion rather than be crushed under the weight of it, with the visitors the only team worthy of a win on the night.

It was all depressingly predictable from an England point of view, and while the display didn’t plumb the depths in years past of Algeria in Cape Town or Iceland in Nice, it nevertheless leaves Gareth Southgate with much to ponder.

For football journalists in this country, it’s a well-trodden path, and while the myth of build-them-up-to-knock-them-down is just that, the journey from over-expectation to under-delivering is one we have all walked many a time.

There is still time for Southgate’s side to get it right, of course. First, a result against the Czech Republic on Tuesday evening and then into the knockout phase, where any number of perils await.

In a tournament of differences, it’s a refreshingly familiar feeling.

Yours,

Ben Burrows

Sports editor