England truly bounced back following a boring and slow appearance in the USA game – in which they were lucky to escape with a draw. But yesterday, the Three Lions took on Wales and demonstrated the depth of talent in the England squad.
England have sailed through to the Round of 16. Fellow Group B team, USA have scrapped through too. Wales finished bottom of the table, and along with Iran, are on their way home.
Boss Gareth Southgate came under fire for not playing Phil Foden in the USA game, and for the Wales game the starting eleven had a few key changes.
Big-named players Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Bukayo Saka were benched, and Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford started.
Rashford – who’s had a rocky road to repair following the Euros final – played a truly stunning game.
England dominated from the start
England dominated on possession in the first half but didn’t make that many attempts on goal, the first 45 minutes were fairly uneventful.
But as the second half got underway, Ethan Ampadu’s foul on Phil Foden at the 50-minute mark, gave Rashford the chance for a blinding goal. His free kick sailed past Danny Ward and just six minutes later, Phil Foden would score from a Harry Kane cross.
Wales boss Ron Page was forced to replace the Welsh captain Gareth Bale at half-time through injury, though the skipper had barely touched the ball during the first 45 minutes – just seven touches to be exact.
Wales were outclassed in every moment, and went into the game knowing they needed a certain set of situations to occur to progress – they needed to beat England by a four-goal difference and Iran vs USA game to end with a draw.
The Welsh dragons were slayed when Rashford added his second goal in the 68th minute, as he sent the ball through the keeper’s legs. Wales were playing with their second goalkeeper after their number one received a red card during the Iran match.
England top Group B with seven points, the USA come in second place with 5 points and Iran and Wales are heading home.
England faces Senegal next Sunday, whilst the USA will face the Netherlands on Saturday.
Rashford’s perfect night
It was also a poignant personal moment for Rashford as well as one of celebration for England as he said: “I lost one of my friends a couple of days ago. He had quite a long battle with cancer. I’m pleased I scored for him. He was a big supporter and a good friend of mine. He was someone who came into my life.”
“Moments like this are what I play for,” said Rashford. “I’m really happy to be going into the next round of the tournament because I have massive ambition for this team. I think we can go further.”
Southgate shuffles team
It’s not clear who will be in the starting lineup against Senegal in the next round but what playing Rashford and Phil Foden in the starting team against Wales proved, was just how much talent the England squad has – and it comes down to making the right calls for each game.
Sterling and Saka are two of the most important players for the England squad, but Foden should’ve been played, in a game that lacked creativity and appeared to have a lot of tired players.
Sterling should be a shoo-in for the Senegal game, he’s a player with experience and the ability to read the game well. But regardless of who starts the Senegal game – it’s refreshing to see players like Rashford and Foden being able to be starting players.
All in all, England made it through the Group stages fairly easily with no real major concerns. But the real work now starts as, three games away from the final, the competition just got tougher.
