England’s footballers do their own Great British Bake Off (and one even earns a Paul Hollywood handshake!)… but can you figure out which Three Lions legends their gingerbread men are meant to look like?

• Paul Hollywood was tasked with judging the bakes of four England players  
• The quartet took on a gingerbread man challenge – which Hollywood judged 
• England will struggle to win a trophy with Kalvin Phillips – It’s All Kicking Off 

Four England stars were tasked with proving they are as good at baking as they are at football – and there was mixed success for the quartet.

When the Great British Bake Off rolled into St George’s Park there was no sign of the famous tent as Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice, Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold donned the aprons and pitted their culinary skills against each other ahead of their game with Malta at Wembley on Friday night.

They were tasked by Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood to design, bake and decorate a gingerbread man in the style of their England hero (scroll down for the answers of which former players they chose).

The four footballers-turned-budding bakers had 35 minutes to complete their challenge, which didn’t go without a hitch. 

Arsenal midfielder Rice seemed to endure the toughest time in the kitchen. 

England stars Kieran Trippier (far left), Declan Rice (second left), Jordan Henderson (second from right) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (far right) all took on a Great British Bake Off challenge

Paul Hollywood tried to give Newcastle United full-back Trippier some advice in the challenge

Liverpool fan Hollywood poses for a photo during the challenge with Alexander-Arnold

He did not hold back in his feedback at the end, with the footballers enjoying mixed success

Your browser does not support iframes.

He needed to be shown how to use the utensils to cut the gingerbread and was later heard shouting for help after encountering difficulty in transferring his creation onto a baking sheet.

Henderson appeared to have it in for his former Liverpool team-mate Alexander-Arnold after first attempting to steal his flour and then obstructing him in the kitchen.

Trippier confessed that he felt ‘more nervous doing this than playing football’ and instead pointed to his wife’s prowess in the kitchen.

There was further controversy when questions were asked over the impartiality of Liverpool fan Hollywood, who admitted, ‘If you play for Liverpool you should probably win, the rest of you, good luck!’

As the players sat laughing between themselves on the bakers chairs, nerves set in as Hollywood critiqued and tasted their efforts. 

Henderson got a rub on the head from Hollywood as he tried to cut out his gingerbread design

Great British Bake Off fans will have to wait until Friday to see who won the England challenge

The four players are very competitive and were quick to scrutinise each other’s designs

‘That’s a well baked biscuit,’ ‘his kit looks good but he’s a bit rough round the edges,’ ‘that’s a bit underbaked, but at least his kit is on,’ and ‘that’s not a bad effort,’ were among Hollywood’s feedback. 

Rice decided to try to recreate former Chelsea and England defender John Terry, Alexander-Arnold plucked for his childhood idol Steven Gerrard, midfielder Jordan Henderson favoured Paul Gascoigne, whilst Kieran Trippier opted for Wayne Rooney – though you might have struggled to tell that from the final product alone

When the final creations came out of the oven, Terry was said to have ‘lost his head’.

Viewers will have to wait until Friday to see who is crowned star baker when the full video is released on Channel 4’s YouTube channel from 5.30pm.

WHICH PLAYER DID EACH CHOOSE TO BAKE: Rice – John Terry; Alexander-Arnold – Steven Gerrard; Jordan Henderson – Paul Gascoigne; Kieran Trippier – Wayne Rooney. 

England v Malta will be broadcast on Channel 4 from 7pm on Friday.

WHICH ENGLAND HEROES DID THE PLAYERS CHOOSE TO BAKE?

DECLAN RICE’s creation – JOHN TERRY

Mail Sport bake rating: 1/5 

Former Chelsea academy midfielder Rice, who is now at Arsenal after a £105million move from West Ham during the summer, chose former Blues captain and England stalwart John Terry. Rice did not quite manage to achieve Chelsea’s Royal Blue colour scheme and instead ended up with a teal design kit, which doesn’t include any signatures to Chelsea. Rice speaks regularly to Terry and the former defender will no doubt be less-than-impressed at the gingerbread creation of himself. 

KIERAN TRIPPIER’s creation – WAYNE ROONEY

Mail Sport bake rating: 2/5 

Newcastle United and England full-back Kieran Trippier at least added Rooney’s iconic No 10 to the design, although adding MUFC (Manchester United Football Club) seemed a bit of a giveaway in an England shirt. When Trippier played in Spain with Atletico Madrid he was actually nicknamed ‘Rooney’ by then-team-mate Diego Costa, and the full-back has always admired the former Everton, Man United and England centre forward, who went on to score 53 goals for England.

JORDAN HENDERSON’s creation – PAUL GASCOIGNE

Mail Sport bake rating: 4/5 

Henderson made the effort to include a Nike match ball as well as have a go at the Three Lions crest in blue on the No 8 shirt of his hero, Paul Gascoigne. While there was some suggestions that Henderson’s bake ‘didn’t go to plan’ during the challenge, it was a marked improvement on some of his England team-mates’ efforts.

TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD’s creation – STEVEN GERRARD

Mail Sport bake rating: 3/5 

Liverpool’s local hero chose another hero of Merseyside for his bake, with Trent Alexander-Arnold aiming to recreate former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard in his iconic No 4 England shirt.

Source: Read Full Article