Well England’s one world-class player, Harry Kane, will be fit before the end of the season, meaning his current injury absence might play into England’s hands, giving an over-worked player an uncommon sense of freshness.
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Southgate is expecting the focus to be on football, not politics, once the tournament starts.
Jesse Lingard’s first global goal fired England to a 1-0 friendly victory over the Netherlands – their first since Euro 1996 – in Amsterdam on Friday. Still has work to do to present a convincing case for World Cup inclusion.
Everton’s Jordan Pickford, bidding to be England’s first-choice goalkeeper, dealt easily with Matthijs de Ligt’s shot before coming quickly off his line to deny Quincy Promes.
The Three Lions were expected to be in a tough game with the Dutch but it proved to be far from it as they dominated for large parts of the match.
Jesse Lingard’s second-half strike gave England a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands at the Amsterdam Arena.
When Pep Guardiola defined Tottenham by their prolific homegrown striker it was seen as a slight, but few within the England set-up would quibble with Kane’s status as first among equals. A routine win was secured in the 81st minute as substitute and ex-Newcastle striker Luuk de Jong headed home his fourth global goal.
England boss Gareth Southgate has praised goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for his performance against the Netherlands.
“Obviously, I have got a bit of experience now having done it at Liverpool, done it at the U21s and my past clubs as well”.
Since becoming Liverpool’s record signing in January, van Dijk has bought a calming sense to a frantic backline, allowing Liverpool’s famed front three to roam wild without a care in the world. Between both boxes, though, the Three Lions largely impressed, with the vibrancy of the team one of the most pleasing aspects of the evening.
“But for every individual it is up to them what they want to do, the situation is developing so we don’t know what it will be like in June, but on the situation now, it wouldn’t stop me from going”.
The England boss made a decision to field the pace of Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and match-winner Jesse Lingard in attack.
Can Koeman rebuild this Dutch team?
A rookie worldwide manager, whose only club job ended in relegation, in charge of a squad of waifs and strays is the most inexperienced and unsettled group ever to wear the Three Lions at a major tournament. They are capable of playing in a really composed way, which they showed.
The Dutch lost 0-1 to England, with Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard scoring the decisive goal.
Racism is just one of a list of concerns for the England team and fans travelling to the World Cup in June.
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‘Without knowing the details, it’s not something I want to hear.
