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After thrashing Iran 6-2 in their first World Cup match, the focus of England players moves on to their next opponent, the United States.
The US was held to a draw 1-1 against Wales with a late Gareth Bale penalty saving a point for the Dragons. England manager Gareth Southgate can rest easy knowing that his team is in good spirits, especially after so many pundits were speaking highly of 19-year-old phenom Jude Bellingham.
The Borussia Dortmund starlet had a terrific game and played with a maturity that belied his tender years. However, Southgate will be very careful in preparation for the England’s clash with the United States , as the young American team is very talented and was only minutes away from winning against Wales.
Southgate was thrilled with the win against Iran which was the biggest-ever England victory in an opening World Cup match, however, he was also worried about the second-half display in which his team allowed two goals.
“In preparation for the match we were talking about how Iran is not an easy team to score against, so to get six goals past them is a credit to the whole team. Our midfield was terrific, and the passing of the ball and the execution in front of the Iran goal was excellent. But, I can’t be overly pleased with the way we allowed two goals. Those were mistakes that can’t happen on this level of football,” said Southgate.
Keeping focus is the key to England
The England manager was also talking about the impact of the added time which was strange to see as something that doesn’t happen often.
“The game certainly drifted away with so much added time. I didn’t like that fact. We have to learn to keep focus until the very end because later in the tournament those mistakes could cost us in a big way. The United States game will be tough, we can’t underestimate them, they proved to be a good team.”
There was a total of 64 minutes of added time in four games that were played thus far, which is unusual, to say the least, but it is something that FIFA announced would happen a few months ago to help avoid teams wasting time.
England wasn’t harmed at the end by the added time, but the team will have to figure out how to keep their concentration to the end, as their opponents later in the tournament, especially in the playoff rounds will look to take advantage.
The United States was leading 1-0 by a goal from Timothy Weah until the 82nd minute when Gareth Bale scored to equalize from the penalty spot. The US team was better most of the match and will be disappointed to have finished without a win in their opening match. The Welsh team struggled, especially Gareth Bale who was out of sorts but managed to take advantage of an opportunity when the penalty was awarded.
England will play the United States on Friday, in what will be the nations first meeting in four years. In 2018 England won a friendly game 3-0, however, at the 2010 World Cup they drew 1-1.
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