Jesse Lingard and Kieran Trippier encapsulate all that is dynamic about this very different England squad.
Neither are star turns, with striking sensation and skipper Harry Kane, twinkle-toed terror Raheem Sterling, midfield tyro Dele Alli and Manchester United marvel Marcus Rashford the pride of Three Lions fans.
They are the only standouts in this England squad, which pales in comparison to the country’s World Cup contingent at past tournaments.
Feast your eyes on the following array of former England artists.
David Beckham, Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Paul Scholes and Michael Owen featured at France 1998. Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Owen Hargreaves and Joe Cole were in the 23 in South Korea and Japan four years later.
Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott went to Germany in 2006. Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Jermain Defoe, Ledley King and Michael Carrick made the plane to South Africa in 2010.
Four years ago, England boasted Jack Wilshere, Daniel Sturridge, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley and Luke Shaw in Brazil.
The above 25 were just the tip of an iceberg of talent the managers tasked with leading the charge toward a second World Cup success could call upon.
Yet despite the embarrassment of riches Glenn Hoddle, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson had at their disposal, one of football’s biggest nations and one of only eight to hoist the famous Jules Rimet trophy high, have failed to even grace a World Cup semi-final in the last 28 years.
How ironic then that a squad devoid of much stardust is finally capturing the hearts of a nation when previous talent-laden teams continuously underachieved.
Lampard, Gerrard, Scholes etc perpetually went into tournaments with hopes built up high, perhaps too high. But talk very soon turned from raised expectations to dissecting the latest disaster at a major tournament.
Kieran Trippier has been in fine from for England in Russia.
Meanwhile, you felt the relationship between the England camp and media steadily deteriorating after each debacle.
In Russia, however, journalists and players have been playing darts together. And this England team are certainly poking holes in past perceptions – typified by Lingard and Trippier.
Trippier plodded through the early stages of his career, quietly coming through the ranks at unglamorous Barnsley and then Burnley after failing to make the grade at Manchester City.
Lingard’s rise across the city at United has been more public, but also problematic. He could score the winner for England in the World Cup final and still wouldn’t be able to convince most of his critics to take him seriously as a footballer.
Both are now quietly making murmurs in Russia.
Lingard scored a breathtaking goal in the 6-1 rout of Panama after a lively display against Tunisia, even though he was largely demonised for the amount of chances he squandered.
But you can’t ignore the stats. His 95.1-per-cent pass success rate is the 41st best among players at the World Cup. Lingard leaps to third when filtering out players that have played less than 45 minutes and aren’t defenders or goalkeepers.
Only three of his 61 passes have been misplaced and he is joint third among team-mates in tackles.
Trippier, meanwhile, has an assist and has delivered seven key passes – joint third with Joshua Kimmich and second behind Kevin De Bruyne and Salman Al Faraj.
So while Kane plunders goals in the hope of emulating Gary Lineker as the only England player to win the Golden Boot, at Mexico 86, overall this England team is greater than the sum of its parts.
And while analysts and even their own supporters might moan there isn’t much magic in this Three Lions, there is definitely something special about this squad.
