ENGLAND FIND IT ALL SO EASY
Qualification is looking a mere formality after Kane hat-trick sweeps aside Bulgaria... but how far can the Three Lions go?
WHEN summer returns to Wembley Stadium, England can afford to dream about their Euro 2020 prospects. It will take more than a comfortable victory over a Bulgaria team ranked 60th in the world to provide any clues in to how far Gareth Southgate’s side can go.
England — more specifically Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford — simply overwhelmed a limited and elderly team from the Balkans. That much was expected.
So when Euro 2020 begins next June, a transnational tournament yet one which will see England play group games and possibly a semi-final at Wembley, the serious interrogation will begin. The sort of intense questioning the likes of France, Belgium, a restored Spain and a resurgent Holland tend to conduct.
For now though, the evidence points to the fact that England will, at least, have a chance. They have a midfield that boasts more and more players willing to take a player on, Mason Mount making his debut yesterday alongside Chelsea team-mate Ross Barkley.
They have full-backs aplenty. More importantly, they have an attack that will not be surpassed by many. Sterling, once an England scapegoat, was warmly applauded as he left what is almost literally his home pitch, having grown up nearby. Seven goals in seven games, his considerable contribution to England was always apparent but is now clear to everyone.
Obviously hat-trick hero Kane was man of the match but, in reality, these two worked superbly in tandem and it was hard to split them. And a huge supporting role was played by the effervescent Rashford. To think, they had Jadon Sancho to come off the bench and Callum Hudson-Odoi to return from injury.
England were too good for Bulgaria and goalkeeper Plamen Illiev, who was attempting to make ambitious use of the new rule which allows you to pass to a defender inside the penalty area from a goal-kick.
He exchanged passes with Georgi Sarmov and then attempted to angle a pass to Vasil Bozhikov on his left.
Sadly for him, such is the energy of the modern player, that Sterling had already sprinted into that area to close down the defender. Worse, Illiev’s passing was more in the mould of an old-school goalkeeper: distinctly average.
It was skewed closer to Sterling than Bozhikov and the Manchester City man pounced, seizing the ball and cutting it back, for Kane.
The centre-forward had led that initial press — it is one of the huge attributes to his game — yet here he was the beneficiary of Sterling’s industry and, having already got clear of Sarmov, he then made an excellent feint back to receive Sterling’s pass, which meant it looked as though he had a simple finish to open the scoring.
Southgate punched the air. Until then, it had all looked a little stale, a little pedestrian.
‘I think it improved as the game went on,’ admitted the England boss. ‘We didn’t need to over complicate things. We looked dangerous and at times we took a few too many touches. Their formation caused us problems out of possession as well.
‘In a game like this, you have got to make sure the concentration is right. I always felt we had enough firepower to win the game.’
England looked neat and tidy as they passed the ball around, dominating possession, but causing any actual threat seemed to be a secondary consideration.
Barkley looked the most creative of the midfielders. He and Sterling combined superbly in the 19th minute, the Chelsea player receiving the ball on the half turn and delivering a sweeping pass into the Manchester City man’s path. Their work was undone by Kane’s poor run, who finished Sterling’s cross but had strayed offside.
Bulgaria’s Brazilian connection almost disrupted England’s grip on the game immediately after the restart. Marcelinho chipped in a lovely ball over the England defence for Wanderson to have a clear strike on goal. Both were born in Brazil but are naturalised Bulgarians and play their club football in the country. It was an impudent move worthy of their country of birth and required Jordan Pickford to stand strong and parrying the shot away.
It was a rare moment of hope for Bulgaria, however. England were simply stronger, better, quicker.
On 49 minutes, Rashford decided that the direct route was best, given that he was up against a 33-year-old. His pace bamboozled Nikolay Bodurov and he simply powered passed him.
Overwhelmed, Bodurov attempted a recovery tackle, won the ball but in the ensuing tangle, as Rashford changed direction, managed to upend his man as well to concede a penalty. Kane directed it to the keeper’s left for 2-0.
Admirably, Bulgaria stuck to their principals, passing out from the back. However, it was also unwise, given it had proved their undoing.
On 56 minutes, Illiev tried to find Bodurov but Kane nicked the ball away. Rashford, now uncontainable, raced on to it. He fed Kane, who had kept pace and took the ball to the byeline to cross, where Sterling waited. Returning the first-half favour, he pulled the ball back for his team-mate, who, despite a nudge in the back, could hardly miss.
By now it was a case of damage limitation for Bulgaria. As such, the bedraggled Bodurov was reprieved, replaced by Kristian Dimitrov. It brought little respite. When Kane burst into the box on 72 minutes, Dimitrov went to ground but scrambled up as Kane prepared to shoot.
Realising he couldn’t get in front of Kane, he simply hooked his striking leg away to concede a penalty. As such, it only delayed Kane’s hat-trick by a minute or so.
The captain directed this penalty to the right of Illiev. His 25th goal for England means he now stands one ahead of Sir Geoff Hurst in the scoring charts at the age of 26.