There’s a scene in Dear England that sees Gareth Southgate – or Joseph Fiennes to be precise – write a single word on a whiteboard in front of his young England side. It simply says “Stories”.
Beneath it, Southgate then adds three boxes – “beginning”, “middle” and “end”.
The then England boss explains to the players how there are no shortcuts when it comes to the World Cup and that building a winning team takes time.
Having been appointed Curacao boss in January 2024, Dick Advocaat – the former Rangers, Netherlands and Sunderland boss – took a rather simpler approach.
“He got everyone together at the National Stadium, flipped over a piece of A3 paper and wrote ‘World Cup 2026’ on it,” says Raymond Mulder, Curacao’s goalkeeping coach.
