No fairytale finish as Wayne says farewell
THE schoolchildren in the hi-viz yellow vests can say they saw him. Their mums and dads got to bid a fond farewell. Alas they never got to witness the final goal they were all craving.
Wayne Rooney has left the stadium and on Sunday a Croatia team will arrive for a round of winner-takes-all after last night’s 3-2 win over Spain. Maybe, in the circumstances, England needed a better run out than they got here. Still, the FA’s careerists will be happy. They got their event.
There were 58 minutes gone when Rooney, Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier queued on the touchline for their introduction. Rooney replaced Jesse Lingard, who had earlier scored a lovely goal. It was his 120th appearance, but the first of its kind. A ceremonial farewell. A lap of honour by a player the country believed had retired.
While this was a divisive decision by the FA, nobody was wishing Rooney ill. The crowd willed him to be the influential player of his youth again, to add to his record number of England goals.
Instead, after he came on, the USA enjoyed their best spell of the match. That wasn’t his fault, but it was the result of treating an international like a charity game.
England just faded for a time and it was not until Callum Wilson scored the third of the night, converting a cross by Fabian Delph, that the hosts took back control.
Rooney had a shot from the edge of the area which brought squeals of anticipation but the easiest of stops for goalkeeper Brad Guzan, and had two more chances in added time.
Still, Gareth Southgate’s team won and the result in Zagreb set up an enticing game on Sunday.
‘It’s my opinion that England are in very safe hands,’ said Rooney afterwards. ‘The way they are being coached is brilliant, it’s a great group of players who have a bright future.
‘They will go close to being the next team to bring a trophy back for England.’
The counter-balance to the testimonial-like events to come was the youth of Southgate’s starting XI, the least experienced team an England manager has picked since Ron Greenwood sent out one with just 46 caps to play Australia in 1980. Southgate’s here had 94 between them.
Jadon Sancho looked full of confidence, as if he was made for this stage. Trent Alexander-Arnold, too.
Less successful was Michael Keane, who was caught out on a couple of occasions and almost let in Christian Pulisic for a goal against the run of play. Wilson caused the USA defence some problems but also missed some very good chances.
If England eased up long before half-time, it was only because they were cutting through the defensive lines almost at will.
The USA looked rattled and in the ninth minute goalkeeper Guzan kicked the ball straight to Lingard. He whipped the ball in but Wilson snatched at his shot from close range and it came off a shin.
He was genuinely unfortunate a minute later when Guzan came charging rashly off his line as the Bournemouth man ran towards goal, clumsily taking him out. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano had a look at it and ruled no penalty.
England finally got the break after 26 minutes, a simple feed from Dele Alli and a replica of Lingard’s goal at the World Cup against Panama. It was a shot from the edge of the area, right foot, curling into the top corner.
Just over a minute later, a second goal. Alli worked hard to battle through inside the penalty area and the ball fell to Sancho. He waited just the right amount of time and slipped it the short distance to Alexander-Arnold, now arriving on the right. His shot was perfectly targeted — across Guzan, low, into the far corner.
The USA offered little. Given the ordinariness of the opposition, how Rooney must have fancied his chances.
To be fair, how must they all. ENGLAND (4-3-3): Pickford (McCarthy 46); Alexander-Arnold, Keane, Dunk, Chilwell (Dier 58); Winks (Loftus-Cheek 70), Delph, Alli (Henderson 58); Sancho, Wilson (Rashford 79), Lingard (Rooney 58). Subs not used: Butland, Walker, Kane, Sterling, Barkley, Stones. Booked: None. USA (4-2-3-1): Guzan; Yedlin, Miazga, Brooks, Villafana (Moore 88); Trapp (Acosta 70), McKennie (Lletglet 76); Pulisic, Green (Adams 62), Weah (Saief 76); Wood 6. Subs not used: Horvath, Carter-Vickers, Delgado, Cannon. Booked: None. Man of the match: Harry Winks. Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain). Attendance: 68,155.