66 2GM Wednesday June 8 2022 | the times
SportUefa Nations League
Leeds United midfield player has only
recently returned from a knee injury.
He lasted barely a minute, was clearly
struggling to run, signalled to the refer-
ee and limped off, to be replaced by Ju-
de Bellingham. The Borussia Dort-
mund youngster soon displayed his
passing promise. In a quickfire move on
the half-hour, England’s best of the half,
the ball flowed between Kyle Walker,
Kane, Raheem Sterling and Saka
before Bellingham's shot was blocked
by Rüdiger.
England were enjoying plenty of pos-
session but looked shaky defensively,
although little could quieten the travel-
ling hordes up in the gods, as well as the
England supporters dotted all over the
home sections. Blackburn Rovers and
Southampton fans hung flags in the
German areas, and Foden, Sancho and
Beckham shirts were also spotted amid
the home fans.
The travelling supporters remained
in good voice, reminding the Munich
public of events 21 years ago with
“Emile Heskey, England’s No 9” and of
events last year at Wembley with “We
saw you cry on the telly”, a rather cruel
jibe at the young German fan pictured
sobbing as her team were knocked out
of the Euros.
They continued singing in support
of Harry Maguire and Southgate,
although events down the far end
should have concerned them, especially
when Musiala was passing and moving.
One of his incisive deliveries, played in-
side Walker, released David Raum, who
crossed to the far post, where Kieran
Trippier got the better of Kai Havertz.
Musiala then caught Kane’s attempted
clearance on the volley but it was
straight at Jordan Pickford.
Hofmann's goal after 50 minutes
briefly quietened the England fans.
Havertz began the move, holding off
Bellingham and touching the ball back
to Rüdiger on the halfway line. His
former Chelsea team-mate, now head-
ing to Real Madrid, stroked the ball
forward to Kimmich, who was to prove
central to this move and so much more
influential in this midfield role.
Kimmich played a one-two with
Ilkay Gundogan, then with Havertz,
before driving the ball down the inside-
right channel into space opened up by
Lukas Klostermann cleverly peeling
right and taking Trippier with him.
Maguire was out of position, pushed too
far forward, also gifting Kimmich space
to target. So Hofmann ran on to the per-
fect pass. John Stones threw himself in,
despairingly, trying to block the shot
but Hofmann was too quick, his contact
too powerful and the ball flew with a
slight deflection past Pickford.
It was a chastening moment for
England, and a reminder of the work
required in defence but Grealish's
effervescence brought hope. Grealish
began dribbling in from the left, driving
in one magnificent low cross met fully
by Kane and saved marvellously by
Neuer. Grealish then dribbled in again
and lifted in a ball that Stones headed
over. And then came Kane.The Germany left back David Raum
was afforded far too much space to
push forward. Time and again the ball
would be played out wide and he
would have all the time in the world
to pick out a team-mate or head to
the byline.
He should have been outnumbered
one-versus-two by Bukayo Saka and
Kyle Walker but Saka didn’t drop
deep to challenge him and Walker
failed to get out to engage the
Hoffenheim player.
In the first half Saka played as
poorly as I have seen him for
England. He looked lost, not knowing
where to be or what to do.England looked quite limp in Munich,
not creating enough chances, which
was partly credit to Germany, but it
was also a warning for Southgate.
The manager had talked proudly
about how his team were the leading
scorers in the European section of
World Cup qualification but, while
quite impressive, one must bear in
mind that four of those ten fixtures
were against Andorra and San
Marino. When you are thrashing a
feeble team 10-0, as England did San
Marino, it loses a bit of meaning. It
can make you complacent and forget
there is a huge difference between
qualifying and the real tournament.Hard night for Saka Southgate’s warning
Tony Cascarino’s
talking points
Group A3
P W D L F A Pts
Italy 21 1032 4
Hungary 2 101 22 3
Germany 20202 2 2
England 2011121
Results Hungary 1 England 0; Italy 1
Germany 1; Germany 1 England 1;
Italy 2 Hungary 1.
Fixtures (7.45): Saturday England v
Italy; Hungary v Germany. June 14
England v Hungary; Germany v Italy.
Sept 23 Germany v Hungary; Italy v
England. Sept 26 England v Germany;
Hungary v Italy.Most England men’s goals
Wayne Rooney (2003-18)Harry Kane (2015-)Bobby Charlton (1958-70)Gary Lineker (1984-92)Jimmy Greaves (1959-67)Michael Owen (1998-2008)535049484440Germany
Hofmann 50England
Kane (pen) 881
1
Nerveless Kane papers over
Henry Winter
Chief Football
Writer, Munich
Maguire’s poor positioning for Germany goal
Joshua Kimmich spotted Harry Maguire had pushed up out of the England back
line and threaded a pass behind him to Jonas Hofmann who opened the scoringMaguireKimmichHofmannEngland, Germany and penalties, a
long-running drama but now with a
plot twist. It had to be Harry Kane
rewriting the script. It had to be
England’s nerveless front man giving
the great Manuel Neuer the eyes and
calmly slotting away his penalty.
It was not simply a vital touch,
bringing England a draw they didn’t
fully deserve, in truth, as Joshua Kim-
mich and Jamal Musiala had excelled,
but a historic one too, taking Kane past
Sir Bobby Charlton and on to a
half-century of goals for his country.
Wayne Rooney’s record is now three
goals away.
Fifty goals in 71 appearances is a
remarkable return and Kane is still only
- Given how well he looks after him-
self, this supreme professional, a patriot
who welcomes every chance to repre-
sent England, probably has another
four years plundering goals. It’s breath-
taking to consider the final mark that
Kane could set. He simply will not settle
for breaking Rooney’s record; Kane will
want to smash it.
His presence always concerned the
Germany defence, even if Antonio
Rüdiger had the temerity to berate the
England captain when he fell under
Nico Schlotterbeck’s panicky challenge
with two minutes remaining. Kane was
through on goal, readying himself
to shoot, when clearly clipped by
Schlotterbeck.
He chased after Carlos del Cerro
Grande, the Spanish referee, who had
initially ignored the incident. Gareth
Southgate and his bench were also
appealing loudly. They knew. They saw
the foul. Fortunately for England, VAR
intervened and the sight of Del Cerro
Grande suddenly running towards the
pitchside monitor drew a gleeful roar
from the 3,500 travelling fans up in the
gods, and a similar number scattered
around the glorious Allianz Arena.
Rüdiger tried to put Kane off, lurking
around the penalty spot, glaring at the
England No 9. Kane has nerves of steel.
He was utterly focused. He placed the
ball down, stepped back a few strides,
ran in, deceiving Neuer and placing his
kick low and hard past the goalkeeper,
who went the wrong way. Kane’s tech-
nique is exceptional and his constant
practice, allied with his strength of
character and focus, makes him so
ruthless in these testing circumstances.
It reflected the resilience in South-
gate’s squad that is embodied by the
captain. England were also inspired
by Jack Grealish coming on for
Mason Mount with 18 minutes
remaining. Suddenly there
was more zest, more threat,
more thought and accuracy
in their passing. Southgate
insisted afterwards that he
did trust Grealish, which
was evidenced by his deci-
sion to send him on, and his
confidence and dribbling
alarmed Germany.
Also, when Jarrod Bowen
came on for Bukayo Saka,
England continued to raise
their mobile menace levels.
Really the only quibble with
Southgate’s in-game manage-
ment was that the substitutes could
have arrived earlier, especially as
Germany had taken the lead after 50
minutes through Jonas Hofmann.
Yet what was also significant from
Southgate was that he eschewed the
much debated wing-back system.
Southgate did what he rarely does:
deploy a four against more demanding
opponents. The 4-2-3-1 system gave
England more presence in midfield
with Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips
mugging Thomas Müller and launch-
ing a counter. England rarely
looked in control, however, and
the defence was unconvincing,
but it was certainly an improve-
ment on the lacklustre per-
formance during Saturday’s
defeat by Hungary in
Budapest.
England were
still struggling
to find their
stride and lost
some impetus
when Phillips steamed into a
challenge on Schlotterbeck,
fast but fair, and tried to run
on but collapsed, feeling his
right thigh. Phillips hobbled
off, was patched up, came
back on and, however willing
he may be, Southgate should
never have allowed him to
continue. England have a
duty of care to clubs. TheSouthgate’s late tactical
switch brought dividends