FOOTBALL S Szoboszlai buries ‘harsh’ penalty
Young fans’ jeering shame... then
THOUSANDS of Hungarian kids jeered England for taking the knee – on an evening when Gareth Southgate’s men looked as though they could really do with a lie down.
It’s a good job there are still 170 days left until the Three Lions kick off their World 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 down-time in a Four Poster bed.
Shocker
Still, it took a shocker of a penalty decision to hand the Three Lions their first defeat in 22 games.
Dominik Szoboszlai fired home from the spot in the 66th minute after Portuguese referee Artur Dias bought Nsolt Nagy’s theatrical dive faster than a French politician making up excuses after he had tangled with Reece James.
Southgate said: “I don’t think we did enough to win the game, but the result
It was still a shock to hear youngsters aged no more than 14 react angrily when the
England players took
the knee
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 fixtures 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 the home fans’ 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 18-year-old Bellingham won his 13th international cap.
Both will remember Budapest for its bigots.
England now have games against Germany and Italy before they meet Hungary in the return leg.
Then they can take some well-earned rest before getting back on the treadmill.
Southgate said: “It’s now a big game in
Germany on Tuesday night – as if a game between England and Germany isn’t always big.”
He experimented with a three-man defence of Kyle Walker, Conor Coady and Harry Maguire, with Trent Alexanderarnold 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 also looked vulnerable every time Hungary attacked down the flanks.
Clearance
Loic Negro exploited the space behind Justin in the 12th minute to cross for Szoboszlai and Coady had to make a
clearance from his goalline after Jordan Pickford had dived bravely at the midfielder’s feet.
Pickford then enjoyed a touch of fortune when the towering Adam Szalai spotted him too far off his line and tried an audacious chip from the centre circle that beat the England keeper but luckily dropped wide.
England’s only first-half threat came from Bowen, with Harry Kane only managing one sniff at his 50th international goal when he sent a snap-shot into the side netting when his team were chasing the game late on.
Hungary cranked up the tempo after the break and Nagy sent a low shot skidding just wide of the England upright.
They had managed to keep England pinned back for long periods before Nagy felt the arm of substitute James on his neck and rolled the dice by taking a theatrical tumble.
The referee took the bait and awarded the penalty while booking James and Szoboszlai found the bottom corner with his finish.
The noise was incessant – although Coady almost silenced the home fans with a flicked header that drifted inches wide from James’ free-kick.
Hungary continued to attack and were eventually able to cling on to their lead and see out injury time before taking a lap of honour to mark their first victory over England for 60 years.