Southgate left to rue bold target after England's failure in North Macedonia
One thing is for sure, if England want to be anywhere near the best then they will have to use their best players.
There were too many disappointing auditions, failed experiments and sloppy performances for England to look remotely like the No1 team in the world. Instead, it was left to Harry Kane to step off the bench, inspire a fightback to ensure England did not go into next summer’s Euros having lost their last qualifying match.
It was just 40 seconds between Kane coming on and England equalising, albeit through an own goal. But that is the difference Kane makes. A defeat would have been a result to sap their confidence and rather make a mockery of Gareth Southgate’s bold pre-match target of leading England to the top of FIFA’s rankings.
But as it was, it was far from convincing against North Macedonia - way down in 66th place - on a bitterly cold night when England were saved by an own goal. Yes, it was one of those nights. A night which Ollie Watkins will want to forget because he was hauled off for Kane after just 58 minutes.
Trent Alexander-Arnold played deeper than against Malta and that was another experiment which did not work while Harry Maguire looked clumsy and uncomfortable on a rock hard pitch. Phil Foden showed good flashes, Jack Grealish grew into the game and Rico Lewis had a decent senior debut, albeit North Macedonia’s penalty was given against the Manchester City teenager.
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Marc Guehi looked calm and composed as he brought the ball out of defence and ultimately a point was enough to guarantee England’s status as one of the top seeds for the Euros draw on Saturday week.
How that was ever a penalty is anyone’s guess and down to Slovakian referee Filip Glova who seemed to enjoy being the centre of attention while VAR was nearly as slow and unreliable as in the Premier League. And that is saying something.
Harry Kane came off the bench to help England draw level (AP)England will go to Germany next summer as one of the favourites but, rather than build confidence in the last two dead rubbers, Southgate will have to rediscover some confidence after lacklustre displays against Malta and North Macedonia.
England started quite well as Declan Rice hit the post with a long range effort while Watkins missed a big headed chance. But the clumsiness slipped into England’s play. Maguire was lucky not to concede a penalty for a sloppy challenge on Eljif Elmas. The referee and VAR probably got the decisions the wrong way round as hey did not give that but gave a really bad decision against Lewis.
Lewis’ outstretched arm caught Bojan Miovski in the face, it did not look a foul but the Slovakian referee went to check his VAR monitor and, incredibly, gave a spot kick. It looked so harsh. Enis Bardhi’s 41st minute spot kick was saved by England keeper Jordan Pickford but the North Macedonia captain smashed home the rebound to give the hosts a shock lead.
England thought they had levelled after half time when Grealish bundled in Bukayo Saka’s cross bit VAR showed he was clearly offside. Southgate had seen enough. Off went Watkins and on came Kane, England’s captain, record scorer and saviour.
Gareth Southgate's side have underperformed in their last two games (Getty Images)Foden swung over a corner, Kane darted forward and North Macedonia midfielder Jani Atanasov unwittingly deflected the ball into his own net. That is what Kane does. He causes panic, unsettles defenders and puts himself on the line for his country.
Having gone to Bayern Munich, he will feel very much at home in Germany next summer. But England will need to play a hell of a lot better than this to harbour any dreams of winning the tournament let alone living up to Southgate’s ambitions of being No1 in the world.
It was a dire game, another disappointing performance and you can only feel sorry for the brilliantly loyal England fans who never give up on their country.
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