England fans starting to suspect Golden Generation might not win World Cup

After Wayne Rooney was left out of the England squad to face Germany and Lithuania, fans of the Three Lions have finally started to admit doubts that the Golden Generation will restore the country to their presumed place on top of the world.

While it's widely acknowledged that Rooney and his team-mates Frank Lampard, Gary Neville, David Beckham, John Terry and Steven Gerrard are certain to bring glory to England, some experts now feel they may have left it a little too late, given that four of the five have now retired.

“I have this creeping suspicion that the Golden Generation might not be all it was cracked up to be,” England fan Gary Moore told FourFourTwo, rubbing at his Three Lions tattoo.

“Call me disloyal but I’m actually a little doubtful that Lampard will ever hoist the World Cup trophy aloft, and I’m not sure the best of Beckham is yet to come.

“I can’t help but feel that we maybe had a better chance when the Golden Generation were playing football rather than commentating, lounging next to a pool in the Caribbean or struggling to get on the bench for Manchester United.”

New name required

Experts have warned that a Golden Generation is usually expected to at least reach the final of a major competition, rather than exiting every tournament at the quarter-final stage bemoaning their luck.

“We can expect the Golden Generation to be officially downgraded to the Bronze Generation within the next year or so,” football historian Ian Hobson told FourFourTwo.

“After that it will be downgraded to the Tin Generation, before being wistfully reinstated as the Golden Generation when England are beaten by San Marino in 2040.

“It’s almost as if the English public vastly overestimated the ability of its players and put grossly inflated expectations on their shoulders. But surely that can’t be the case?”

Please note: This satirical news story is not real. Like, obviously.

More funny stuff • New features you’d love on FourFourTwo.com