LIMP LIONS IN A STATE
Uninspired, sluggish and slow... USA hand Gareth and his men a reality check
THEY left the pitch to a chorus of boos at the final whistle.
This felt like a painful reality check – England were brought crashing back down to earth as their United States curse struck again in a third World Cup. Incredibly, England have never beaten the USA in a major tournament – losing in the 1950 World Cup and drawing in 2010 – and the frustration continued in the desert last night. Gareth Southgate (left) had warned his players not to get carried away, not to believe the hype, after they hit Iran for six in the group opener.
The draw is still good enough to virtually secure a place in the knock-out stages – they just have to avoid a four-goal defeat by Wales in their last group match on Tuesday – but it was hardly a display to keep us believing.
Defender Harry Maguire was England’s best player by a mile, which probably tells its own story. He almost singlehandedly denied the United States, who can count themselves desperately unlucky not to have won the game.
And perhaps that should be England’s biggest consolation. On a night when they looked sluggish, off the pace, and lethargic, at least they did not become another scalp in a World Cup of shocks.
But there were major worrying signs as Harry Kane struggled – the only time he went close to scoring was a glorious chance in injury-time when he headed wide from a
Luke Shaw free-kick from wide on the left flank.
And that was the story of England’s night: too little, too late on a night of pure frustration in the spectacular 70,000-seater Al Bayt Stadium.
After a strange start to a tournament overshadowed by controversy, you finally felt you were at a World Cup with the atmosphere, noise, and flags of St George proudly on display behind each goal.
There has been a buzz around England since they thrashed Iran in their opener and it was no surprise that Southgate stuck with a winning team. But it was a world away from the same team performance because, if they had it won by half-time against Iran, they could have been down and out by the break this time.
Yet England actually started quite well as Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka combined nicely to set up Kane but his shot was blocked by Walker Zimmerman.
From then on, it was the US who looked sharper and fitter than England, who seemed worryingly sluggish. Maybe it was the hot, balmy atmosphere or their sun-drenched training sessions in 30-degree desert heat, but they did not look as if they had any energy or zip left in their legs.
It was United States, hugely energetic all night, who had the better chances and took control of midfield, with Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic, largely out of favour at Stamford Bridge, looking like a man on a mission.
Weston McKennie had a great chance but fired over while Pulisic went even closer as he smashed a 20-yard shot against the crossbar with a sweet left-foot strike.
Then Pulisic glanced another headed chance just wide. This was not in the script, not after what we witnessed against Iran, but England did at least rally just before half-time as Shaw created a chance for Saka, who fired over.
Soon afterwards, the Three Lions finally put a decent move together. At long last.
Shaw and Raheem Sterling combined to set up Mason Mount, whose fierce shot was well saved by US keeper Matt Turner in first-half injury-time.
But if you thought a half-time team-talk from Southgate would solve it, then you were horribly wrong.
In fact, if it had not been for Old Trafford misfit Maguire, then England would have been in so much trouble.
The Manchester United defender kicked, blocked and tackled everything to mark his 50th cap with one of his best performances in an England shirt. The Old Trafford faithful must have been rubbing eyes in disbelief.
He was the exception to the rule as England just fell flat and, after holding firm in the second half, it was Kane who wasted the big chance but that would have been daylight robbery.
The result means that, come the final matches on Tuesday, all four teams in the group can still qualify for the knockout stage.