Amazing 2018 is just the start for England, maintains Pickford
before striking the post with Randolph beaten.
The other No.9, O’Brien, would have relished an opportunity of that quality.
His night was summed up by a moment just before the hour mark when he gained possession in the Danish half. Seven red shirts were closest to him.
The Republic were not pushing forward. O’Neill mixed things up shortly afterwards by introducing Ronan Curtis and Robinson in a double change with O’Brien and Brady replaced.
The Burnley midfielder was bright in the early stages, yet is clearly still working his way back towards peak condition.
Curtis was sent forward and did try to press the Danish.
Seamus Coleman did make a couple of forays into the opposition half but his final ball was poor and his frustration evident.
With time running out, O’Neill did look to take something out of the exercise by introducing Michael Obafemi for his debut.
He was given a crash course in what things are like for an Irish striker by spending the majority of his time chasing lost causes. Still, the Southampton player was eager and put himself about.
The 18-year old’s appearance means he is the first player to be born in the 21st century to win a senior cap. It came in a fixture which offered little reason to be cheerful about the future. ENGLAND goalkeeper Jordan Pickford will always look back fondly on 2018 and is determined to keep the Three Lions heading in the right direction.
England matched their best-ever performance on foreign soil by reaching the World Cup semi-finals in the summer, but they have not rested on their laurels.
Gareth Southgate’s men lost their Nations League opener at home to Spain, only to bounce back with four wins from five matches and secure progress to the inaugural finals in Portugal next summer.
Harry Kane earned a late 2-1 win against World Cup semi-final foes Croatia as England, who had trailed with 12 minutes to go at Wembley, brought the curtain down on 2018 in style.
“It has been great,” Pickford said. “It has been a learning curve for a lot of us and a step forward and we know where we stand. The main thing was to be beating top sides for starters, and we have done that, so we are going in the right direction.
“It was a great win. We showed resilience and character and team spirit.”
Andrej Kramaric’s deflected effort put Croatia ahead in the 57th minute and on course for top spot, only for England to stage a stirring late fightback.
Jesse Lingard levelled from close range after Joe Gomez’s long throw had caused mayhem, and then Kane prodded home Ben Chilwell’s free-kick five minutes from time to earn victory.
“When you go 1-0 down it’s always tough against a top side like that and we popped up when we needed to,” Pickford said. “You dominate the first half, they have one chance and they score.
“But we dug in, and the fans were great. It’s our team spirit, it’s quality and our mental toughness as a group, we stuck in there, it is not always pretty.
“We played some quality football but then set-pieces win you the games.”
Sunday’s victory relegated Croatia from the top tier and sees England through to the Nations League semi-finals.
“We were always due to play games in the summer,” Pickford said. “We will get time when we need time, we will have two qualifiers in March which we will look forward to and then we have the Nations League in the summer, which is another step in the right direction for England.”
Meanwhile, England midfielder Fabian Delph believes the “sky is the limit” for this group of players.
The Three Lions have flown up the world rankings over the course of the year and proven themselves one of the best teams around, having won 3-2 in Spain last month and come from behind to see off Croatia 2-1 on Sunday.
“It was amazing,” surprise starter Delph said after the Wembley win. “We’ve been speaking about it in the dressing room, it’s been an amazing 12-18 months — we’ve come a long way.
“(Sunday) was a great result for us, especially after coming up short in the World Cup.
“You always look at those games and think, ‘If we get the opportunity to play that team again, hopefully we can put it right’ and I felt like we did that here.
“We’re only a young team so to see the lads with the character they had in the game was really impressive.”