Kane saves England as Dutch and Austrians open World Cup campaigns with wins
England kept their World Cup qualifying on track with an ugly 1-0 win while Austria and the Netherlands made belated starts to their campaigns with victories on Saturday.
Harry Kane's 72nd international goal ensured England avoided the ultimate embarrassment of failing to beat Andorra. Even so, Thomas Tuchel's side were booed off in Barcelona after struggling to impress against a team ranked 173rd in the world.
Tuchel is the first England manager to win his first three competitive games without conceding a goal.
But given the paucity of opposition provided by Andorra, Latvia and Albania in the Group K qualifiers, that achievement rings a little hollow after this miserable display.
"I'm not happy with the performance. We completely lost the momentum and couldn't get it back. We ended up in a place that was not good enough in terms of urgency," Tuchel said.
"We can just admit it that it's not what we expect from us. I was most worried in the last 20 minutes because I didn't like the attitude we ended the game with.
"I didn't like the lack of urgency. It did not match the occasion. It is still a World Cup qualifier."
England pulled five points clear after three matches in Group K as second-placed Albania drew 0-0 at home with Serbia. Rey Manaj of Albania wasted a penalty in first-half added time.
Serbia was one of three teams playing their first qualifying match Saturday after they had been involved in Nations League playoffs.
Netherlands made their debut with a crisp 2-0 win over Finland in Helsinki.
Memphis Depay scored after six minutes. Denzil Dumfries, one week after his unhappy experience playing for Inter Milan in the Champions League final, added the second after 23 minutes.
Netherlands jumped to third in Group G, overtaking Lithuania and Malta who drew 0-0. The Dutch are one point behind Finland and three behind leaders Poland who did not play.
Marcel Sabitzer and Michael Gregoritsch scored as Austria beat Romania 2-1 in Vienna. Florin Tanase headed an added-time reply for the visitors who had squandered several chances in the closing stages.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lead Group H on nine points after Edin Dzeko scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory home over San Marino. Romania, Cyprus and Austria all have three points.
smg-pb/
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
37 minutes ago
- India Today
South Africa's chokers-tag one for the past: Mark Boucher ahead of WTC Final
Former South Africa batter and coach Mark Boucher believes it's time to leave the 'chokers' tag in the past. As the Proteas gear up for the ICC World Test Championship Final against Australia, Boucher said this new-look side should not be burdened by labels tied to past to ESPN, Boucher reflected on South Africa's recent near-misses — most notably their T20 World Cup final loss to India — and stressed that it would be unfair to brand the current squad with a term rooted in playing for a trophy, so I guess a lot of people are saying no [we can't win] but I think it's a different feel in Test match cricket. It's played over a longer period of time and you've just got to win big moments in the game as well,' Boucher told ESPNcricinfo. 'Yes, there will be that tag [chokers] that gets thrown our way until we win a trophy. You're not going to get rid of the tag. Is it deserving on these youngsters coming through? No, it's almost like they're carrying the burden of what happened in previous years, which is always going to be tough on them but they're the ones in control of their futures at the moment,' he Africa's much-anticipated clash with Pat Cummins' Australia begins on June 11. For Temba Bavuma's men, it presents not just an opportunity to win their first ICC title in over two decades, but also to set a fresh narrative for Test cricket in a nation traditionally known for its white-ball Proteas booked their place in the final with solid performances against the likes of West Indies and Pakistan, while Australia arrive high on confidence after a home Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph over the stakes high in this ultimate red-ball showdown, all eyes will be on whether South Africa can hold their nerve and finally break free from the shadows of the past.
India.com
an hour ago
- India.com
Joe Root needs just 154 runs against India to become first batter in the world...
Joe Root. New Delhi: India and England will contest a five-Test cricket series commencing June 20 in Leeds. English batsman Joe Root, their leading Test run-scorer, is expected to play a crucial role and potentially achieve significant milestones during the series. A right-handed batsman has the opportunity to achieve a historic milestone. If he scores 154 or more runs across the next five matches, he will be the first cricketer ever to reach 3000 Test runs against India. In his 30 Test matches since his debut against India in December 2012, Root has accumulated 2846 runs. He requires an additional 154 runs to reach the 3000-run milestone. In Test cricket, prolific batsman Root, currently fifth on the all-time run-scoring list, has amassed 10 centuries and 11 half-centuries against India. Two more centuries in the upcoming series would surpass Steve Smith's record of 11 Test centuries against the same opponent. Joe Root, the ex-England Test captain, is the World Test Championship's leading run-scorer. A total of 457 runs against India in the upcoming series will put him on track to be the first batter to reach 6000 WTC runs. During their recent test series in England, Joe Root scored 564 runs across four matches.
Economic Times
an hour ago
- Economic Times
Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump: Handshakes, warmth and a mutual interest
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The heads of state who have felt the lash of US President Donald Trump's tongue in the Oval Office could do worse than seek advice from FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, who seems to have got their relationship down to a fine has shown a deft touch when it has come to dealing with hard-nosed leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin, when Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup, and now Trump with the United States set to co-host football's global showpiece next has been quite the opposite, showing no mercy to those who have dared challenge him -- he has laid into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa in extraordinary scenes at the White with Infantino it is all smiles, compliments and Trump's traditional use of the words "great" and "greatest" when he likes something or was one of just a handful of prominent sports figures present at Trump's inauguration."Infantino handles Trump really well," Martin Sorrell, the founder of advertising giants WPP who is putting together a documentary for next year's World Cup, told pointed to when Infantino was filmed with Trump in March, showing off the trophy for the upcoming Club World Cup."Trump, who had the FIFA trophy behind him in the Oval Office on the video, said... 'as one president to another'," he appears to have placed his relationship with Trump front and centre -- perhaps unsurprising as the women's 2031 World Cup is also expected to be hosted in the US as well as the inaugural women's Club World Cup in there are signs that the relationship can grate with others as it did with UEFA representatives when Infantino arrived late at a FIFA Congress in Paraguay in May having been with Trump on the US president's visit to Qatar and then Saudi Arabia.- 'My great friend' -Nevertheless, whether some like it or not Infantino has restored relations with the US which reached its nadir under his predecessor Sepp the US lost out to Qatar for the right to host the 2022 World Cup, a FBI investigation resulted in 'Fifagate', leading to several of the governing body's senior figures going to jail and Blatter 2018, two years after Infantino was elected, the US were named co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup, earning him an invitation to the White years later the 'bromance' was strengthened when Trump asked Infantino to deliver the address at a dinner he hosted at the Economic Forum in Davos."America is on the verge of becoming a great soccer power," purred Infantino."The 'American dream' is something we all need to have. All those who love soccer."Trump responded by praising FIFA as a "steadfast movement" and Infantino as "my great friend."Infantino's loyalty -- a characteristic Trump values in others above all else -- has remained rock press conference-shy football boss has in his social media posts steered clear of commenting on the slights made by Trump regarding his World Cup co-hosts Mexico and keen is he to maintain smooth relations, he did not even step in to correct Trump, sitting behind him, when the US president said inviting Russia to the 2026 World Cup could facilitate them making peace with are barred from the qualifiers due to the 2022 invasion of both have so much invested in the World Cup being a success that nothing must blight the landscape."Gianni's obviously got a very close relationship with Trump and he's leveraging that because both sides have a mutual interest for 2026 to work," John Zerafa, an experienced sports communications strategist based in the UK, told AFP."Trump is a guy that's driven by headlines and being in the spotlight, and he's going to love being in the spotlight in the run-up to and during the World Cup, and he knows that it's got to go smoothly."So they've got a mutual interest for 2026 to work."
