FLAT Disputed penalty puts an end
THOUSANDS of Hungarian kids jeered England for taking the knee – on an evening when Gareth Southgate’s men looked like they could do with a lie down. It’s a good job there are still 170 days left until the Three Lions kick off theirworld Cup campaign in Qatar because they looked tired and toothless in the Hungarian heat.
Forget four Nations League games in the space of 10 days at the end of another gruelling season.
England looked more in need of some time in a four-poster bed.
It still took a shocker of a penalty decision to hand them their first defeat in 22 games.
Dominik Szoboszlai fired home from the spot in the 65th minute after Portuguese referee Artur Dias bought Nsolt Nagy’s theatrical dive after he had tangled with Reece James.
Southgate said: “I don’t think we did enough to win the game, but the result hinged on what I think is a harsh decision.
“The forward made a meal of it, but sometimes you get these decisions going against you when you’re away from home.
“I didn’t see any sign of tiredness in the training sessions, but the heat did take a lot out of the players.
“I don’t want to be too harsh because we need to learn lessons from games like this.
“But the bottom line is that if we want to be a top-tier team then we have to come to places like this and win.”
At least Szoboszlai’s strike gave the junior Magyars something to cheer rather than jeer.
UEFA had allowed more than 30,000 children to half-fill the Puskas Arena after initially ordering the game to be played behind closed doors following ongoing issues with racism and homophobia.
It was still a shock to hear youngsters aged no more than 14 react angrily when England’s players took the knee before kick-off.
Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham suffered abuse in the same stadium last year.
Sterling was on the bench last night, while-old Bellingham won his 13th cap. Both will remember Budapest for its bigots.
England now have games against Germany and Italy before they meet Hungary in the return.
Southgate experimented with a three-man defence of Kyle Walker, Conor Coady and Harry Maguire, with Trent Alexander-arnold and new-boy James Justin as wing-backs. It didn’t work.
Justin was replaced by Bukayo Saka at the break after taking a knock.and although fellow debutant Jarrod Bowen was arguably
England’s best performer, the visitors were overrun in midfield and toothless in attack.
They looked vulnerable every time Hungary attacked down the flanks.
England’s only first-half threat came from Bowen, with Harry Kane only getting one sniff of his 50th international goal when he sent a shot into the side-netting late on.
Hungary had England pinned back for long periods before Nagy felt the arm of substitute James on his neck and rolled the dice by taking a tumble. Szoboszlai found the bottom corner with his finish.
The home side took a lap of honour to mark their first victory over England for 60 years.
of my job is to liaise with the players and make certain they don’t feel as if they are out on a limb.
“They have to trust that we are doing the right thing by them.”
Two of Newcastle’s loan players – striker Elliot Anderson who helped Bristol Rovers gain promotion from League Two, and midfielder Matty Longstaff, who was in the Mansfield Town side who lost in the League Two promotion final – have benefited from their spell away from St James’ Park.
And the fact that almost half of
Carsley’s young England squad have spent the last campaign away from their base augurs well for the loan system. In the case of striker Flo Balogun it was Carsley himself who recommended a loan move for the Arsenal striker. He agreed to go to Middlesbrough.
“Watching him in the Arsenal Under-23s I thought it was probably a bit too easy for him,” Carsley (right) said. “He has all the right attributes and needed to test himself. Arsenal obviously have a career path marked out for him.”
Elsewhere in the squad, Djed Spence claimed promotion for Nottingham Forest while on loan from Boro, while Man City’s Tommy Doyle gained great experience at
Cardiff. Also in the squad is Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott who spent the 2020-21 season on loan at Blackburn and according to Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp came back ready to claim a first-team place.
Elliott said: “I gained a lot of joy, a lot of experience and a lot of learning from my time at Blackburn which I put into my season with Liverpool.
“I learned a lot from the gaffer (Tony Mowbray) and the team.”
So for all its faults – and there are certainly a few to iron out – the loan system and its effective use is just one of the reasons England fans have a bright future to look forward to.