David Hytner was at the Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, and his report is in. Here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM. Not long to go now!
Thomas Tuchel speaks to ITV Sport. “We did very well … we deserved to win … we should have had more goals … created a lot … the attitude, energy. intensity was on a very high level … everyone did well … a very good team performance … we wanted to push to the next level and clearly got it … we worked hard … togetherness … it makes my mind very calm because we are on absolutely the right way … I am very proud … the guys who came in were super influential … the guys who came out were pushing from the bench … exactly what we wanted … well done to everyone … we have a friendly match tomorrow … the players get one and a half days off … switch off physically but also mentally … then we prepare for Croatia … very calm and very proud … next stop Kansas!”
Elsewhere in Fifaland™ …
Declan Rice talks to ITV. “The manager was onto us to ramp it up … intensity with the ball … counter-pressing … the performance tonight was top from everyone … really good last game before it all starts … the first week, ten days has been adapting to the heat … we’re building confidence. fitness … we’re going to keep building … really good.”
Anthony Gordon adds: “There’s always pressure when you are playing for England … if you can’t deal with that. you’re at the wrong level … I love penalties … I love the pressure of them … glad to see that one go in.”
That’s a satisfactory run-out for Thomas Tuchel’s squad. There’s not a great deal to be read into a warm-up friendly, but then that’s not really the point. Job done for England: more minutes in everyone’s legs. no injuries, quite a few contented faces as thoughts now turn to next Wednesday: England v Croatia at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The World Cup is here, baby, and the fever is rising.
We got there in the end.
90 min +5: Watkins races into the box, down the inside-left channel. His attempt to force the ball past Madriz is deflected out for a corner. from which Rogers scoops a shot from the edge of the box over the bar.
90 min +3: … and now Mainoo shoots low and hard through a crowded box. Madriz smothers. England’s players all searching for a confidence-boosting goal.
90 min +2: Saka. Rashford take a short corner out on the left, exchange passes, then cut back to tee up Eze, whose curler meant for the bottom right is sliced clear by Quiros.
90 min +1: The first of six additional minutes passes uneventfully. as Tom Hopkins wonders: “Just to check, have they got enough overs in to avoid paying refunds?”
90 min: Saka drops a shoulder to make space down the right, and fizzes a shot-cum-cross through the six-yard box. There’s nobody in a white shirt to toe-poke home.
89 min: “Football’s coming home!” trill the England supporters. What’s the point in sport if you’re not allowed to dream?
A cute Rogers backheel releases Rashford into the box from the left. Rashford shoots. The ball’s half cleared. Rogers swings it in from the left. Madriz gets down to meet,. can only punch the ball straight up in the air, inviting Watkins to head home from a couple of yards. A more realistic scoreline now, given the balance of play all evening.
86 min: Another England corner from the right. Saka’s delivery is headed clear by Galo. England come again, Rogers sashaying into the box from the right. failing to keep his cross down to accessible height.
85 min: Guehi combines well with Rogers down the right. The ball’s whizzed low into the centre, where Mitchell hooks clear under pressure from Rashford.
83 min: Saka rolls a pass down the right for Rogers, who can’t control on the byline, but the ball clanks off Salazar. out for a corner. Saka takes it. Guehi fails to win a header at the near stick, and Costa Rica clear. This match is puttering out.
81 min: Ruiz, Sinclair and Rodríguez are replaced by Mora, Ugalde and Araya.
79 min: Salazar slides in on Mainoo, and is the latest Costa Rica player to escape a second yellow. It is a friendly, to be fair, and Thomas Tuchel wouldn’t want to waste his time playing against ten men. Still. if there was anything on the line tonight, Costa Rica would surely be down a couple of players by now.
78 min: All of those subs have jiggered the rhythm of this match. England struggling to get anything going at the moment.
76 min: It should be three. Eze rolls a defence-splitter down the inside-right channel to release Rogers, on the right-hand edge of the D. He opens his body and sidefoots past both Madriz and the right-hand post. An awful miss. Not quite as egregious as Madueke’s first-half open-goal howler,. again, best to get these things out of your system now.
75 min: Nunez is booked for stopping Mainoo take a quick free kick.
73 min: Saka sends a corner in from the left. Mitchell grapples with Burn, bringing the sub down, risking both the concession of a penalty and a second yellow card. But the referee ignores the incident altogether.
72 min: England make five more changes. Konsa, O’Reilly, Anderson, Bellingham and Gordon are replaced by Burn, Watkins, Mainoo, Rashford and Quansah.
70 min: Plopp and Kex, though! And yes, I’ve never really progressed since infant school.
69 min: … and that’s drinks. Once again, pick your poison from the list. Though can I also recommend Sweden’s entry, a smorgasbord of pick’n’mix sweeties that include brands such as PLOPP and KEX.
With Kane subbed, the responsibility falls to Gordon … who absolutely skelps the penalty into the top-left corner. Madriz went the wrong way, but even if he guessed correctly, he was never getting to that.
66 min: Bellingham Ricky Villas his way through the Costa Rica box, left to right past six players. Having attracted them all, he cuts back for Eze, who shoots goalwards. The shot pings off Araya’s elbow, and wide right, The referee points to the spot.
65 min: So far, England have completed 335 passes to Costa Rica’s 40. It’s been an attack-versus-defence kind of game.
64 min: Now for six England changes. Pickford, Rice, Stones, Kane, Madueke and James make way for Dean Henderson, Guehi, Saka, Rogers, Eze and Spence.
62 min: Ah, Sequeira eventually makes way for Madriz.
61 min: The game restarts, and the keeper stays on. Costa Rica had gotten Sequeira’s replacement Madriz stripped and ready, as well. Tuchel is raging.
60 min: Sequeira is given quite the massage. On the touchline, Thomas Tuchel complains about the long stoppage in theatrical style.
58 min: Sequeira appears to have pulled something while drop-kicking upfield. On comes the doctor.
57 min: Mora tugs O’Reilly back, and is perhaps fortunate not to be shown a second yellow card. From the free kick, Bellingham tries to catch Sequeira out but the keeper smothers.
56 min: … and then the free kick happens, to little effect.
55 min: Salazar is booked for hauling down an in-flight Konsa. Before the free kick can be taken, Soto is replaced by Nunez.
54 min: Madueke crosses long from the right. Gordon would need circus stilts to meet it. Goal kick.
52 min: O’Reilly slips a ball down the left intended for Gordon; it’s turned out for a corner. Rice sends it long. Konsa cushions it into the path of O’Reilly, who is caught between spinning. shooting, or laying off to a team-mate. In the event, he achieves neither. Costa Rica clear.
51 min: England pass and probe in the patient manner. Costa Rica, dropping deep in a low block, hold firm.
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