No Kane, no problem for England

AMSTERDAM — Jesse Lingard scored his first international goal as England beat the Netherlands 1-0 Friday in a friendly that proved Gareth Southgate’s team can win without striker Harry Kane.

Lingard opened his England account in his ninth international, firing low into the corner past the despairing dive of Jeroen Zoet in the 59th minute after a cross from the left had rebounded to him off a Dutch defender.

It was a deserved victory for England, which looked quicker and more dangerous than the Dutch going forward, even without injured captain Kane, and solid at the back.

“I was pleased. I knew we would have pace and energy in the team but I was really, really pleased with the composure,” Southgate said.

The match at the Amsterdam Arena was a World Cup tune-up for England, while it marked the start of a rebuilding process for new Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman, who took over the reins after the Dutch failed to qualify for the tournament in Russia.

“We were well organized in defence, generally didn’t give away many chances, but we didn’t create many either,” Koeman said.

While the Netherlands was largely impotent in front of goal, Southgate showed his squad’s strength when he was able to replace Lingard, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford midway through the second half with Dele Alli, Danny Welbeck and Jamie Vardy.

England plays Italy on Tuesday at Wembley in its last friendly before Southgate names his World Cup squad. • In Manchester, without a slightly injured Lionel Messi, Ever Banega and Manuel Lanzini provided late goals for Argentina in a 2-0 win over Italy in a pre-World Cup friendly on Friday.

Messi was left on the bench due to a minor muscular problem, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Giovani Lo Celso getting the start instead at the centre of Argentina’s attack.