England, without several starters whose withdrawal caused a stir, scored a double blow on Thursday in Athens with a 3-0 victory and a first group place stolen from Greece in the League of Nations.
The European vice-champions have moved closer to a return to the elite of the continental competition, which they left with their heads down two years ago after a catastrophic campaign, without the slightest victory.
In Athens, the clear victory only took shape at the end of the second half, but the team led by the interim Lee Carsley made a strong impression and cracked a usually intractable defense.
Ollie Watkins (7th) opened the ball, Jude Bellingham caused an own goal from the goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos (78th) and Curtis Jones (83rd) closed the mark for its international debut.
In the ranking, the Three Lions have twelve points and are ahead of their Greek rivals on goal difference, who beat them 2-1 in October at Wembley.
In their stadium, Sunday (6 p.m.), the English will have to do what is necessary against the Republic of Ireland, while the Greece will travel to Finland, the red lantern.
In Athens, they managed to extinguish the extraneous noise which accompanied their start of the rally, marked by the massive defection of nine players forfeited.
Kane on the bench
The captain Harry Kanewith often smooth communication, stepped up to the plate on Wednesday to remind us that “England comes first”suggesting that the injuries of some may have been exaggerated.
To everyone's surprise, Carsley left the top scorer in the history of the Three Lions on the bench, at kick-off in Athens, officially to give “a chance” to his understudy Watkins.
The center forward ofAston Villa seized it almost immediately, victoriously taking back a cross behind the very restless You Maduekwell launched by Jude Bellingham in the right lane at the start (7th, 1-0).
Madueke regularly caused misery to Kostas Tsimikasthe defender of Liverpool responsible for neutralizing him. The wingman of Chelsea shot (18th), dribbled a lot and centered, too, on the ground to Rico Lewis (53rd) or in the air for Bellingham, whose header ended up on a post (54th).
Long unable to push their advantage, the English needed the firm hand of Jordan Pickford in front of Tsimikas (30th) and especially in front Fotis Ioannidis (63rd) to continue to race in the lead.
Carsley felt the need to inject fresh blood, particularly in attack where he replaced his three attackers in the 66th minute, which allowed Kane to come on.
The scorer of Bayern didn't shake the nets, however. The saving goals came from a shot from Bellingham, repelled by a post then the back of the calf of Vlachodimos (78th), and by a superb backheel from Jones (83rd), newcomer to the selection.
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