Ben White ja Englannin maajoukkue – Paluu maanpaosta Tuchelin johdolla

Some stories seem to exist within a mythical realm of their own—tales in which a hero is cast down, disappears into the shadows, only to rise again and reclaim his or her place in the spotlight. That can happen in epic poetry of ancient times or in legends of the medieval era. It can also happen on a soccer field.

One such saga is the association between Ben White and the England national soccer team. And now, under the tutelage of coach Thomas Tuchel, it seems that the story is set to resume, with White and the Three Lions at the center of the narrative.

From Exodus to Coming Back—Ben White’s Isolation from the National Team

2022

The searing heat of the Qatar desert, the artificial coolness of the World Cup stadiums, and the dense, heavy anticipation that filled the air all created the theater in which the England national team and many of its passionate supporters were expecting a rather profound reawakening. For starters, the expectation was that manager Gareth Southgate and his staff would not be the last folks in the public to hope for a meritocracy in squad selection.

Instead, in one of the stages of this expected reawakening, something sensational happened that almost no one seemed to want to talk about: White left the camp in Qatar about halfway into the tournament.

No one quite knew what to say when he departed, much less when he had in fact returned to England before the tournament concluded.

The version of the affair that seemed to be circulating most often held that White, along with the rest of his team, had a split with Southgate and the national-team coaching staff that was irreparable. Much of the time few people wanted to say anything at all about the split, which left the true nature of the situation largely to speculation.