Daniel Sturridge, days after nearly missing the bus to France, was on the pitch along with 2016’s version of Cinderella Jamie Vardy.
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The only criticism that can be levelled at this England side is a lack of ruthlessness.
Making six changes just disrupts the flow of the side. The ball just won’t go in the net.
“The England boys over there are exactly the same – they don’t care”. “England have never done that in a tournament”. Slovakia, knowing a point could be enough to advance, rarely played in England’s final third.
Police said they were attacked after trying to separate rival groups of supporters at a roundabout near the Stade Velodrome with bottles thrown and a rubbish bin set alight. Along with that came the promise of an easy path to the semifinals, a chance to shake off the tag of perennial quarterfinalists.
Russian fans are at the centre of a French inquiry into disturbances on the sidelines of England’s June 11 game against Russia in which 35 mainly English fans were injured.
FC’s Steve Nicol and Alejandro Moreno discuss England’s issues in the final third. “It’s disappointing that we had all the play and had all chances around their box, I can’t deny that, but we have players who can score goals and will score goals”, insisted Hodgson. Everybody nodded in agreement.
“Hopefully when we come up against teams in the next stages, they will hopefully come out some more and give us more space”. Small fish like Slovakia deserve only lighter ammo. In comes Jordan Henderson, Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne.
England are reinstating the club-level combination between Alli and Kane.
England had 61% possession in the match and notched up 29 attempts on goal but, crucially, only five of these were on target. Slovakia look content to sit back and defend.
If the Russian defence saw Vardy or Rashford on the pitch, they would be forced to drop deep out of fear. The light infantry is doing nothing to dent the Slovakian resistance.
Three major tournaments and three early exits later, Russian Federation is in crisis with an elderly squad, little young talent and a coach who has signaled he wants out. The back four was where the greatest question marks over England’s pre-competition capabilities lay, and those worries have not been entirely allayed in the group stages.
Shprygin left France on Saturday, then returned Monday for Russia’s match against Wales in Toulouse, apparently traveling overland from a neighboring country to avoid airport border controls.
In all honesty, it wasn’t the six changes that were England’s undoing – far from it – but Hodgson’s freaky subs and decision to play the diamond shape that failed so miserably in the warm-up games before the tournament.
Wales won the group thanks to their 3-0 defeat of Russian Federation, leaving England to face the runners-up in Group F in Nice on Monday next week and possibly a quarter-final against hosts France.
Qualification has been achieved, but the failure to overcome the stoic Slovakians, who they will meet again in World Cup qualifying, means that a hazardous route to the final is likely. Tournament favourites France. In the quarters.
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A Wales fan has hailed an “unbelievable omen” after buying a mystery Euro 2016 figurine which turned out to be star man Gareth Bale.
