Dier and Henderson fighting for one place
ENGLAND manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that either Jordan Henderson or Eric Dier is likely to miss out on a starting place for England’s opening World Cup matches. Liverpool skipper Henderson and Tottenham midfielder Dier have both been pivotal players for Southgate, but one is facing disppointment ahead of the opening two Group G games, against Tunisia on June 18 and then Panama six days later. England are expected to make the attacking running in those games, given the level of opposition, and Southgate said: ‘We want to play with one pivot. It is a key decision, but that’s management. You either select players, or you choose your system and the best people to fit into it. They are the tough calls. I’d be amazed if these two aren’t important figures during the tournament for us, but there is clearly the possibility they might not both play in every match.’ Henderson and Dier could both play in the group game against Belgium, given
THEY gathered at the team hotel last night looking to glean some extra information before a June 28 date in Kaliningrad that will be crucial to their World Cup.
But as Gareth Southgate and England’s players settled down to watch, they will have quickly learned one thing about Belgium that everyone has suspected for some time: Eden Hazard is carrying the hopes of a nation. Stop him and, effectively, you stop them.
Doing that, however, will prove easier said than done. The Chelsea star can be enigmatic but when he flicks the switch, Hazard is absolutely magnificent and during the 45 minutes he played here, he demanded all eyes remained fixed firmly on him.
Hazard scored one just before half-time and created another but those basic facts do not adequately illustrate the stamp he put on the contest with his balletic movement and instinctive, incisive passing.
Roberto Martinez, Belgium’s head coach, has set his team up for Hazard to thrive and you saw the look of horror — and fury — that gripped him in the first 30 seconds when his captain was taken out by a high tackle from Tarek Hamed that rightly earned the Egypt midfielder a yellow card.
It proved to be the closest anyone in a white shirt got to him.
‘I was extremely worried as Eden never goes down,’ said Martinez, who confirmed it will be another week before he can gauge Vincent Kompany’s fitness ahead of the opening Group G game against Panama. ‘But he is a leader and you never see him hide. I’m pleased with the result. Egypt have never conceded three under Hector Cuper so don’t underestimate what we have done.’
From the one- two Hazard exchanged with Kevin De Bruyne after 14 minutes that created a chance for Dries Mertens, to the shot that he engineered with quick feet that enabled Lukaku to pounce in the 27th minute, the Chelsea star was irrepressible, looking every inch a man who is primed to star in Russia.
He took the game away from Egypt, who desperately needed Mohamed Salah’s star quality, nine minutes later when deftly dispatching a cutback from Yannick Carrasco. If he had remained on in the second period, rather than making way for Adnan Januzaj, you would have expected him to add to his tally. Belgium did, at least, put a realistic look on the final score when Marouane Fellaini tapped in from six yards after good work by Michy Batshuayi, both of whom had come on during a stream of substitutions in the second half that disrupted the game’s flow.
Martinez was content with this run-out but not satisfied and he picked holes in the way Belgium defended. Egypt really should have taken one of their opportunities.
To stand a chance of fulfilling Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’ tag, Martinez has to tighten his team up at the back but that worry is offset by the majesty he has in the No 10 shirt. England and Southgate have been warned.
Elsewhere, another of England’s opponents in Group G, Panama, fell to a 1-0 defeat against Norway. Bournemouth’s Josh King grabbed the game’s only goal.