There were a few double-takes at the service stations on the German autobahns last summer when fans stopped off for a toilet break while heading to the European Championship final. Popping out of his van at the “raststätte” was Jordan Henderson, owner of 81 England caps at the time.
Henderson could not get a flight to Berlin to watch the colleagues he helped in qualification before losing his place in the squad, so he hired a van and made his way almost 500 miles from his home in Amsterdam. He could not have been further away from a return to the England team at that point - mixing it with supporters heading to just the second men’s tournament final since 1966.
“I didn’t know until late doors whether I could go with training times or schedule,” Henderson said. “We were off the next day so I was able to go. But then when I found out, there were no flights anywhere. I couldn’t go from England. Couldn’t go from Amsterdam. So then I looked at how far it was, and I hired a van for me and the family. And we drove across for six or seven hours.
“When we needed the toilet or something, or popping in the garages, it was quite funny to see some of the fans. Actually, it was quite nice to be with fans. But obviously, I would have rather been with the team. But I just needed to be there. I wanted to be there.”
It is fair to say that Henderson was completely off the England radar at this point and when Thomas Tuchel was appointed as manager. He was in the squad for the March internationals ahead of the Euros but was an unused sub, then dropped entirely from Gareth Southgate’s final 26 for Germany.
Tuchel only had Henderson in his mind after starting work in January and hearing Henderson’s name crop up when he spoke to Football Association staff. So he called him and was convinced to recall him.
His conversations with Tuchel came amid a fractious campaign at Ajax where a proposed move to Monaco failed to get completed and was not wearing his captain’s armband in a match against Galatasaray. Yet at no time did Henderson feel his England career was over.
“Not really, otherwise I would have retired,” he said. “Obviously I was disappointed but I still feel physically fit, still feel good and I was never going to shut that door. I always felt good. Deep inside, I always wanted to come back. Whether or not I got the opportunity wasn’t down to me so much but thankfully I kept my head down, kept working hard, kept doing the right things and I’ve had a good season this year with Ajax.”
Tuchel has picked Henderson for his experience and leadership in the group. England had a young average age at the Euros, with Henderson and Dan Burn bumping that number up for these World Cup qualifiers. If the ultimate goal is to win the World Cup, the previous two winners had experience in their spine.
Lionel Messi (35), Angel Di Maria (34), Nicolas Otamendi (34) and Papu Gomez (34) were winners with Argentina, while France won in 2018 with Hugo Lloris (31) and Olivier Giroud (31) as key players.
“The balance is important in any good, successful team, especially the ones that I’ve been involved in,” Henderson said. “The ones that have won in the past, you see the experience all over the pitch but also you need a mixture of young players coming through, talent and everything. You need a good blend and to be honest, I think we have that with this squad.”
It means Henderson has a chance of helping England qualify and this time go to the tournament, rather than travel to watch by van.
“I felt I’d been a part of the qualifying campaign,” he said on the Berlin trip. “I think that I was in every squad right up until the Euros. And, I was watching on the telly, and it was hard, but all I wanted was the lads to do well and win. So I had a good feeling that we were going to win, so I needed to be there to see it. But unfortunately, it didn’t work out. But I was happy that I went to watch them live anyway.”
He could be with them on the pitch next time.
