London (AFP) – England’s 5-1 victory over Montenegro will likely be remembered for the racist abuse aimed at their players but it was another indicator of why Gareth Southgate’s side should be considered among the favourites for Euro 2020.
Just two games into their qualifying campaign, England’s place at next year’s championship already looks assured. They top Group A with six points after two wins, including their opening 5-0 thumping of the Czech Republic.
Last year’s World Cup semi-finalists have scored five or more goals in consecutive matches for the first time since 1984.
England, ranked fifth in the world, have not won a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup on home soil and next year will have a similar advantage, with at least two of their group games at Wembley, plus the semi-finals and final.
Southgate, though, is shaping a squad built for much further into the future as he looks to banish England’s record of under-achievement.
At 18, Callum Hudson-Odoi was handed his full England debut in Podgorica, becoming the second-youngest player to start a competitive match for England after Wayne Rooney.
West Ham’s Declan Rice, 20, also started for the first time in midfield, while Jadon Sancho, who impressed against the Czechs, watched on from the bench on his 19th birthday.
Marcus Rashford (21), Joe Gomez (21) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (20) were among those not even involved for the past two games due to injury, but who have already made their mark on the international stage under Southgate.
– Faith in youth –
Hudson-Odoi has yet to make a Premier League start for Chelsea but a consistent feature of Southgate’s reign, helped by his knowledge of the players as former manager of the England under-21s, has been his faith in youth.
“I can’t wait for clubs to pick players 50, 100 times. That is not the landscape we are operating in,” said Southgate.
“What we have seen in different positions is players we think are good enough so we’ll play them.”
Others tipped for bright futures at international level include Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden, who was in the squad that won the 2017 under-17 World Cup alongside Sancho.
Southgate’s approach was rewarded with a first World Cup semi-final in 28 years in Russia and England backed up that impressive performance by qualifying for the last four of the Nations League, with the finals to be held in Portugal in June.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2HHbcQr
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