England forced into huge kit change for Greece clash – and has nothing to do with David Beckham
Today at 09:14 AM
England will make one significant change to their usual home strip when they line up for their clash with Greece at Wembley.
The Three Lions face the Greeks in the first of two Nations League fixtures as Lee Carsley continues his spell in interim charge, and their kit may well remind fans of a famous past encounter.
England‘s last competitive fixture against Greece came in October 2001 at Old Trafford, and was certainly one for the ages.
The game will forever be remembered for David Beckham‘s iconic stoppage-time free-kick, which rescued a 2-2 draw to send the late Sven Goran-Eriksson‘s side to the 2002 World Cup.
It was arguably the former England captain’s biggest and best moment for the national team in his 13-year international career.
And with the Three Lions now set to host Greece once again, there will be one noticeable feature to the home side’s kit that was also on display in the memorable encounter 23 years ago.
Lee Carsley’s players will wear an all-white strip for the Nations League fixture, just as Beckham and his teammates did for their all-important qualifying match.
For their home number, England usually wear blue shorts, but will swap them for white on this occasion to avoid a colour clash.
This is because Greece will line up in an all-blue kit, which was also what their predecessors donned for the 2001 game.
While the Three Lions’ current crop will be keen to evoke memories of the Manchester United legend, it will admittedly be difficult to recreate the fanfare that followed his heroics against the Greeks.
After Beckham curled the stunning effort into the top-corner, commentator Gary Bloom famously cried: “I don't believe it…David Beckham scores the goal to take England all the way to the World Cup finals. Give that man a knighthood!"
The Englishman has also admitted that the iconic moment still remains every bit as important to him.
Speaking to the Daily Mail on the 20-year anniversary of the strike, Beckham said: ‘I get goosebumps when I think about it, talk about it, watch it, it was just a special moment.
He added: “To represent my country, to captain my country, to score a goal that meant so much to our country and the fans, and to do it all at Old Trafford, for me, it couldn’t have been any more perfect.”
With the Three Lions facing Greece just once since, a 4-0 win in 2006, their next opponents are something of an unknown quantity.
Like England, the Greeks recorded wins over Finland and the Republic of Ireland in their opening two Nations League games, and therefore will not be taking them lightly.
Meanwhile, interim boss Carsley will be looking to boost his credentials for the full-time job, as he looks to make it three wins from three.
Should he achieve this feat, he will become the first England manager to win his first three competitive fixtures since Fabio Capello in 2008.
Despite Kobbie Mainoo, Ezri Konsa and Morgan Gibbs-White all withdrawing due to injury, skipper Harry Kane will be available after being given the all-clear following a scare with club side Bayern Munich.
