Nations League 2019: For Europe’s rising stars, there’s much more at stake here than silverware

The four finalists are not just vying for a new trophy. They are vying to be the No 1 contender for next summer’s grander event

When Jordan Henderson and the rest of Liverpool’s English Champions League winners joined up with Gareth Southgate’s squad for the Nations League earlier this week, there were naturally a few lines about being ready to add a second European trophy over the next few days.

It was similar with Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum at the Dutch camp – to the point the duo were greeted with their Anfield terrace chants – as well as Xherdan Shaqiri and Switzerland.

After all, each of these three countries are currently enduring long waits for silverware as they travel to the home of the current European champions – a team that ended its own wait in Euro 2016.

These lines are of course said with a lightness that goes with the atmosphere of the endearingly open Nations League so far, and few seriously think it will end 31 years of Dutch hurt, 53 years of English hurt or whatever it is the Swiss say about their empty cabinet.

That isn’t to mean, however, that the Nations League finals should be dismissed as a modern Tournoi or Umbro Cup.

The invigorating group stages have already illustrated the folly of that, given how they eliminated so many big countries. Similarly, no one should be too put off by the fact these four sides got here at the expense of some usually more grandiose names like France, Germany, Spain or Belgium.

Those big names were knocked out for a reason, and that reason is the same that there is more to these finals.

It is that this is the showdown between at least three of the most exciting squads in Europe. All four are on the up. The Nations League could thereby go a long way to telling us who wins next year’s European Championships, as well as directly improving those sides along the way.

Gareth Southgate has already spoken at length about the tangible importance of developing a winning culture – something that would only be enhanced by winning a tangible trophy – and nobody needs to repeat the old Brian Clough line about the value of Nottingham Forest winning the Anglo-Scottish Cup to later victories.

The players know what this is all about.

Southgate wants to develop a winning culture in this England side (Getty)

The England players also by now know they are probably one of the best squads in Europe outright, to go with the most youthfully vibrant and talented. They now have a crucial maturity to complement their low collective age, as well as the best recent tournament performance of these squads after last year’s World Cup semi-final.

You could certainly make the argument that, after taking in all elements, they have overall the strongest pool of players in Porto this week.

They don’t have the strongest player after Cristiano Ronaldo, though. That is now almost certainly Virgil van Dijk. As the best centre-half in the world, and maybe now one of the five top players in the world, he personally symbolises how the Dutch have so quickly recovered from the ruins of their Euro 2016 and 2018 World Cup failures.

The Netherlands also have the two brightest young talents in Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, who help form what may be the strongest spine in these finals.

Portugal no longer quite have that spine, but they do have a collection of young talent that is frankly eyebrow-raising. This is not a country that no longer needs to fear the eventual retirement of an all-time great like Ronaldo. There is even the argument that the Juventus forward – who has had a controversial year with the accusation of rape in the USA – has already been overtaken as the team’s most important player by the brilliant Bernardo Silva.

The Netherlands have some of the most exciting prospects in the game among their ranks (EPA)

The Manchester City star is the fulcrum around which everything turns. And he leads a group of similar quality that includes Wolves’ Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Diego Jota, as well as this season’s revelations, Bruno Fernandes of Sporting and Joao Felix of Benfica, just 19 years of age. That’s before you even get to those high-level starters Raphael Guerreiro or Joao Cancelo.

This really isn’t the sturdy Portuguese side of the last decade, or even that surprise Euro 2016 win. It is sparkling with special talent, and still fired by the goals of Ronaldo.

They should beat Switzerland in Wednesday’s opening game in the Dragao, but this isn’t to dismiss the Swiss.

They don’t have such budding stars, but they do have a squad coached to a high level of technical competence that is the near-essential starting point for any star-studded generation like those of the other semi-finalists.

The gains made in this area are why the other three countries have gained ground on and maybe surpassed every other major football country, bar world champions France.

These Nations League finals are a showcase of how to run your national youth systems, and the results that can be gleaned.

As regards the final results in the games themselves, Portugal should make Sunday’s final, but it is that very Champions League trophy that could make a lot of difference in the other semi-final.

England’s Liverpool contingent joined up with the national side earlier this week (Reuters) (REUTERS)

English club success may come at a slight cost for the national side.

Imagine, after all, had Ajax actually held on against Tottenham Hotspur. The core of the Dutch side – De Ligt, De Jong, Daley Blind, Donny van de Beek – would be travelling to Porto still recovering from Saturday’s final, maybe down after defeat.

That is instead the state of England’s four Spurs players, not to mention the ongoing discussion over Harry Kane’s fitness, while Liverpool’s have been so deservedly – and so enthusiastically – celebrating.

Southgate does have some decisions to make there.

It is actually set up for what should be an invigorating semi-final on Thursday, to go with what this Nations League has been as a whole.

The hope is these finals offer a fine way to finish the competition, since they are likely to be the start of something else.

These sides are not just vying for that new trophy. They are vying to be the No 1 contender for next summer’s grander event.