Bookmakers Say – England is the favorite to win the European Championship. The last check before the tournament suggests – It won’t be that easy. Wembley wanted a triumphant performance from Southgate’s men and to send them off to Germany with applause and ovations after their final rehearsal, for the premiere of the group stage and the clash with Serbia on June 16 in Gelsenkirchen. Not only did Iceland resist in England’s football temple, but they also exposed many deficiencies of the Three Lions – 0:1. From the midfield to the opponent’s penalty area, England is currently the most powerful team in the world. Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, and Harry Kane instill fear in their opponents, but there is not enough top-quality in the backline. With the injured Harry Maguire out, John Stones remains as the defense commander, and his partners are Marc Guehi, Lewis Dunk, and Ezri Konsa.1 – England have lost their final match before a major international tournament for the first time since 1968, when they went down 1-0 against Germany in their last match before EURO 1968. Unexpected. pic.twitter.com/PXl30yW5EX— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 7, 2024 England’s defense, consisting of Kyle Walker, Stones, Guehi, and Kieran Trippier, capitulated after just 12 minutes of play. They were punished for their high pressing, as the opponents easily strolled into their half and then into the final third before Stones looked so sluggish against the oncoming attacker Leven Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson. The ball went into the near corner of Ramsdale’s goal, and for the first time since 1954, England’s net was the first to be breached in three consecutive matches at Wembley.”Talent alone won’t win us this trophy, it focuses our minds”Gareth Southgate reacts to England’s 1-0 defeat to Iceland in the final warm-up match before Euro 2024 🏴 pic.twitter.com/djKdOrhDJu— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 8, 2024 And the starting lineup, which also included Rice and Mainoo, as well as Foden, Palmer, Anthony Gordon, and Kane, didn’t manage to do much in terms of a potential equalizer. The closest they came was in the 28th minute when Chelsea’s best player curled a perfect ball for Kane, but the European Golden Boot winner embarrassed himself from the edge of the six-yard box. The score remained 1-0 for Iceland at halftime, and boos were heard from the Wembley stands. It wasn’t thunderous, but Southgate’s men could sense the public’s dissatisfaction. They heard it even louder at the end of the match, as they failed to make up the one-goal deficit in the second half. Some might say that England missed Jude Bellingham tonight, that Bukayo Saka only came on in the 66th minute, and that Southgate didn’t use Ollie Watkins even as a wildcard, but that cannot be an excuse for a team worth one and a half billion euros after failing to even score.. There will be even more talk now about Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave Jack Grealish off the roster, despite his season not being the most productive. However, Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon did not perform badly at all on the left wing; on the contrary. The Newcastle forward was Albion’s most dangerous player in the first half. He attacked space and opponents, crossed, dribbled, won duels, but Iceland’s defense remained solid and steadfast.##NAJAVA_MECA_8150531##In the second half, Cole Palmer squandered the best chance. Declan Rice set him up in the 53rd minute with a clear opportunity, a one-on-one with Valdimarsson, but Chelsea’s star overcomplicated things and chose to dribble instead of taking a first-time shot… It turned out to be a very poor decision. As time went on, instead of the expected increase in pace from the favorites and the trailing team, Iceland showed more desire for a second goal. They attacked the Three Lions with long-range shots, counterattacks, and set pieces. Ramsdale was forced to make three interventions while England, by the end of the match, had only one shot on target, which came in the first half. The subjective feeling was that England simply wouldn’t send the ball into Iceland’s net before the end of the match, even though substitute Alexander-Arnold cleverly threaded a ball through the penalty area, close to the far post. Southgate still has a host of key players from the best European clubs, but his England neither resembles poetry nor instills fear in anyone. Perhaps this will change when the runners-up from the last EURO start playing the competitive “do or die” matches.
