England, one of the favorite teams for Euro-2024, took a blow to the back of the head with an embarrassing 1-0 setback, accompanied by a few whistles, on Friday against Iceland at Wembley for the final preparation match before departure to Germany. The enthusiasm of the reigning European vice-champions, endowed with a golden generation and confidence hitherto at the zenith, was dampened by a team not qualified for the continental competition, without big stars but with a better discipline and better ideas.
At the final whistle, a few whistles fell from the London stands, which were quickly deserted despite the lap of honor carried out by the locals.
Only three usual starters were missing: goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and midfielder Jude Bellingham, left to rest (and replaced by Aaron Ramsdale and Kobbie Mainoo), as well as winger Bukayo Saka, who came on after the hour mark. game.
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Defense, Achilles heel
The defense, a potential English Achilles heel, looked like the coach’s No. 1 option, and it failed to put up the barbed wire during the opposing incursions, reinforcing the doubts surrounding it.
There was Kieran Trippier on the left and Kyle Walker on the right of a central hinge commanded by Marc Guéhi, the lucky one in the absence of Harry Maguire, and the more experienced John Stones.
The Manchester City player, little used in the last two months, left too much space for Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson, who came to hook him before targeting the space left between Ramsdale and his right post (12th, 0-1).
Stones was replaced at half-time by Ezri Konsa and the rest was no better for the English rearguard, not far from the penalty (45th, 63rd, 67th, 76th). The long Icelandic balls particularly caused cold sweats at Wembley.
This excitement at the rear is neither new nor temporary. In the last seven matches, the English have only finished two matches without conceding, against modest Malta (2-0) in November and Bosnia-Herzegovina (3-0) on Monday.
As in Newcastle four days ago, England purred too much in the first half to excite its spectators. But at St James’ Park, she improved her score with three goals in the second half, including two in the last five minutes of added time.
There were some good attacking moves, certainly, but he sometimes lacked precision, sometimes luck, to make the difference. Cole Palmer stood out with a shot, blocked by a defender (17th) and a subtle center dive for captain Harry Kane who unscrewed (28th), among others. The other winger Anthony Gordon, retained in the group at the expense of Jack Grealish, also came close to the decisive pass, on a poorly corrected cross by Phil Foden (49th).
