Gerrard's 100 England cap.. but Ibra steals the show

Very few people get to represent their country for the 100th time. Steven Gerrard is one of them. Before him only 5 other players have made 100+ appearances for England. Peter Shilton with the most appearances with 125, followed by David Beckam, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright.

Although 100 caps for any player is incredible, great. But can we say the same for Steven Gerrard? Legend? The answer is No. Yes, he is a remarkable player but most of his better performances have come for club rather than country. One may remember Gerrard's goal against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final, or the goal against West Ham in the FA Cup final in 2006.. which has great significance and won trophies for Liverpool. Can you say the same about Gerrard's performances for England? Probably not

This what Gerrard had to say, 'To be here on the eve of 100 is an unbelievable achievement for me and my family. When I speak about it the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

'There have been great players before me and ones I've played with who haven't got to that milestone. It's very flattering.'

Talking about England's 5-1 victory against Germany in Munich in 2001,

'I'd probably say that's the strongest England team I've played in,' said Gerrard. 'It had great balance between young and  experienced players. We had some world-class players.

'I know the "Golden Generation" gets spoken about, which is  something I don't really like, but when you look at that team from front to back it was really strong.

'That group of players under-achieved at big tournaments. That team should certainly have got to a semi-final.

'We were unlucky at times in the penalty shootouts but that's certainly a regret. That group of players should've done better.' 

He also admitted that he doesn't consider himself a hero for England and suggests that the only heroes that England had were the 11 players who won the World Cup in 1966. So it was Gerrard who captained out England against Sweden at the Friends Arena on the 14th of November 2012, marking his 100th appearance for England. Sweden won the game 4-2, nevertheless, it was a captains performance against Sweden with his swift passing also assisting England's 2nd goal. 

But probably a night to forget for all English fans as the star of the show was the Swedish captain, Zlatan Ibrahimovic who scored all the 4 goals for Sweden, and the most memorable one was the overhead kick out from 30 yards into an empty net. After the game, Gerrard himself admitted that it was probably the best goal he had ever seen.

Gerrard's current stats
Debut : Vs Ukraine on 31th May 2000

First goal : Vs Germany in the 5-1 win in 2001

Appearances : 100
Goals : 19