The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Foden takes centre stage as England end year on happy note
Phil Foden netted twice as England’s new generation staked their claim for a place at next summer’s European Championship and brought a challenging year to a convincing end with a 4-0 win over Iceland at Wembley last night.
From Harry Maguire’s Greek court case and the high-profile bubble breach by Mason Greenwood and Foden, to injury headaches, empty stands and his own bout of Covid19, this has been a tough autumn for Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate.
But Foden’s double and goals from Declan Rice and Mason Mount saw England end the year on a high note.
Southgate kept to his pre-match pledge to name a strong side for the final match of 2020, despite Sunday’s loss in Belgium meaning the Three Lions would end up third in Group A2 having finished third in the inaugural Nations League.
E n g l a n d ’s starting line- up for the dead rubber against relegated Iceland included four players aged 21 or younger in a competitive match for the first time since 1959.
Wa l e s secured promotion to the top tier of the Nations League with a 3-1 win over 10man Finland in Cardiff.
Harry Wilson, Daniel James and Kieffer Moore were on target as Wales moved up to League A and virtually guaranteed themselves a 2022 World Cup play-off spot.
A first Nations League win continued to elude Northern Ireland as they were held to a 1-1 draw by
Romania hours af ter relegation from League B had been confirmed by events off the pitch.
Eric Bicfalvi struck in the 81st minute to cancel out Liam Boyce’s goal and make it 10 games without a victory for Northern Ireland in a competition they will be happy to see the back of for the next two years.
When it does return in 2022, Northern Ireland will find themselves in League C, facing the likes of Azerbaijan, Kosovo, and Georgia, after Uefa announced in the hours before kick-off that Romania had been awarded three points for their cancelled match against Norway on Sunday.
T h at left No r t h e r n Ireland six points behind their opponents, the latest blow in a miserable international window which began with the end of their Euro 2020 hopes in defeat to Slovakia on Thursday.
Robbie Brady was denied by the crossbar as the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League campaign ended with a whimper to leave manager Stephen Kenny still awaiting his first win.
On a night when victory would have secured Ireland’s place in pot two for the forthcoming World Cup draw, they were unable to find the back of the net for a seventh successive match – they have now not scored in 11 hours of football – as they scrapped their way to an uneventful 0-0 draw with deple ted Bulgaria in Dublin.