Southgate shuffle pays off
England respond to changes, US star Pulisic suffers an injury and that’s it for Ecuador and cup hosts Qatar
Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden got their chance and made their point. Rashford scored twice and Foden added the other as England changed up their attack and beat Wales 3-0 yesterday at the World Cup to advance to the round of 16 at the top of Group B.
“Moments like this, this is what I play football for. The biggest moments, the best moments,” said Rashford, who came off the bench in the first two matches in Qatar.
“I’m happy we are going through to the next round of the tournament because I have massive ambitions for this team and I think we can play even better than we did today.”
England will next face Senegal in the round of 16 on Monday.
Both Rashford and Foden had come on as substitutes in the opening win over Iran, and Rashford did so again in the match against the United States, which ended in a 0-0 draw.
Yesterday, England coach Gareth Southgate opted to drop Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling to the bench and give Rashford and Foden a chance from the start.
“We were a little bit disappointed after the USA result,” said Rashford, who also scored in the 6-2 win over Iran.
“I thought we could’ve played a lot better and it was important to have a good performance the next game.”
England had the game wrapped up just after halftime with Rashford scoring from a free kick in the 50th minute and Foden adding another in the 51st. Rashford got his second after a weaving run in the box in the 68th.
Wales captain Gareth Bale was forced off at halftime with an injury. While it was unclear when Bale was hurt, it appeared he was struggling late in the first half. He was replaced by Brennan Johnson.
● Christian Pulisic scored while crashing headfirst into the goalkeeper in the 38th minute and the
United States advanced to the knockout round with a 1-0 win over Iran in a politically charged rematch of their famous meeting a quartercentury ago.
Pulisic sprawled on the field and was lying in the goal for about three minutes as he received treatment from the US staff. He re-entered the game but was replaced at the start of the second half. It was later reported he had been taken to hospital with an abdominal injury.
Back in the World Cup after missing the 2018 tournament, the US opened with draws against Wales and England and needed a victory to move on to the round of 16 — the minimum achievement to consider the four-year cycle a success.
The Americans finished second in Group B with five points, two behind England, and will play the Netherlands on Sunday with the chance to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2002.
“I always say it’s us against the world,” forward Tim Weah said. “No one believed the US could play good football.”
● The Netherlands finished off the worst showing by any World Cup host nation by beating Qatar 2-0.
The Dutch advanced to the round of 16 by winning Group A while the Qataris, who were already eliminated, became the first host to lose all three of their group matches at football’s biggest event.
Cody Gakpo put the Netherlands ahead midway through the first half with his third goal in as many matches and Frenkie de Jong doubled the advantage five minutes into the second half.
The Netherlands are three-time runners-up at the World Cup, and also finished third in 2014, while Qatar were making their tournament debut.
The Dutch failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
The Netherlands finished with seven points at the top of the group. Senegal, who beat Ecuador 2-1 in the other group game, advanced in second place with six points. Ecuador were eliminated with four points and Qatar ended with zero.
● Kalidou Koulibaly led his Senegal team into the last 16 by volleying home the winning goal, four years after the African champions were eliminated from the group stage because of the amount of yellow cards they received.
The Senegal captain’s right-footed shot flashed past Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez in the 70th minute. Koulibaly sprinted toward the corner flag and slid on his knees to celebrate.
The result erased lingering memories from four years ago, when Senegal could only draw their last group game in Russia and missed the knockout stage because they had collected more yellow cards than Japan, who advanced instead. — AP