Nick Pope admits messages pinged to his phone as if “someone had died,” after his England audition against Germany.
The England keeper fumbled Serge Gnabry’s shot, allowing Kai Havertz to score a last gasp equaliser at Wembley in September, and Pope had to go through the soul searching every keeper experiences after an error.
Yet Pope flew to Qatar with Gareth Southgate’s squad on Tuesday with a claim to be No1 at the World Cup - after regrouping, pulling off some brilliant saves, and helping Newcastle United to seven clean sheets in 15 Premier League games.
He pulled off three top drawer penalty shoot-out saves last week to knock Crystal Palace out of the Carabao Cup, plus another world class stop from Three Lions team mate Conor Gallagher to help the Toon to third place and five wins in a row on Saturday. Pope insists he will challenge Jordan Pickford - a “good friend” and rival - to the place between the sticks against Iran on Monday, despite his Germany experience.
“Obviously, it was not ideal but that is all part of being a goalkeeper. After that game, I got a few texts and it was as if someone had died but for me it is so much not about that. It is a case of carrying on, coming back to Newcastle, some big games to play in, and fortunately it’s gone very well. When I was a younger goalie, you really have to normalise those stickier games and stickier moments. Mistakes cost your team goals, cost your team points.”
Pickford has had a difficult time conceding goals at Everton this season, so is Pope going to the World Cup as a No 1, 2 or 3? “I don’t know. Every member of the squad wants to play and feel part of it. When you go to a World Cup, it is very much a squad game. Much of the success when we went to Russia was about how much the squad stuck together and how much the mentality was about all of us pulling in one direction. Whether I am in or out of the team, that is part of my mindset as well.
“Jordan is someone I get on well with on and off the pitch. Same with Aaron. I think. It’s a World Cup with England – it does not get much bigger! We all want to play.”
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Qatar is a long way from Pope’s journey to the top. “At 16 when I got released by Ipswich that was kind of a tearful couple of days. That was a difficult lowlight in my life because I had been there six years.
“I did college from 16 to 19 and you do not get paid. You do not play on pitches like St James’ Park. So every week, back then I felt a long, long way from the World Cup. But that was before my professional career kicked off at Charlton.”
He had loans at Harrow, Welling, Cambridge, Aldershot, York and Bury before becoming a star at Burnley. Pope recalls: “On loan sometimes you’re meeting up with the lads for the first time on the bus to an away game and an hour and a half later you’re kicking off with each other! That was Aldershot – not my finest loan - but as a goalkeeper you learn quickly that you are going to chuck one in now and again. You’ve got to take the experiences at the lower levels and build a career.”
Pope, 30, knows he's better now than when he went to Russia in 2018. He added: “Four years ago, I had only just played 35 games in the Premier League so to go to the World Cup on the back of that, I was over the moon with, just to be in the squad. So it does feel a bit different this time around.”
After saving three penalties out of five in the shoot-out last week could he be used as a shoot-out substitute as Tim Krul was by the Netherlands in 2014? “I don’t think my record is unbelievable or anything like that. But I will back myself. You pick a way, trying to cover as much as you can. There’s not loads to it so yeah, if I get a chance to do that – then amazing.”
So how well can England do after the semi final in 2018 and losing the Euros final. Pope concluded: “When you look at the pathway we have been on, the last World Cup and the Euros, expectations and target-wise, has to be right up there. You know, doing the same again if not one more. That is something the squad has spoken about – what a legacy we could leave. This is our opportunity and our time. We want to make our mark.”
