England have been booed by some of their own fans after losing 1-0 to Iceland in their last friendly before the European Championship, while hosts Germany recovered from a goal down to beat Greece 2-1.
Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson left defender John Stones standing as he scored for Iceland in the 16th minute to bring back memories of one of England’s lowest points in recent years – a 2-1 elimination by Iceland at Euro 2016.
What was supposed to be a relatively straightforward send-off friendly instead ended in an alarming loss to a nation that will be watching this summer’s tournament from afar.
Losing to the side 72nd in the world rankings certainly provided more questions than answers, especially given the way they managed to open England up at times.
Iceland’s winner came from all too easily slicing through the hosts in the 12th minute, with goalscorer Thorsteinsson also wasting a glorious chance at a second after the visitors got in behind.
Gareth Southgate’s side looked open defensively and toothless at the other end, managing just one shot on target – far from ideal nine days out from facing Serbia.
The England manager admitted his side’s “disjointed” performance was not acceptable and lacked “enough character”.
“We learned a lot and we know the performance wasn’t good enough,” Southgate told Channel 4.
“Equally we needed the game; there’s a lot of players that we’re managing their minutes and it was obviously a disjointed and disappointing performance and we didn’t show enough character.
“But actually I think it’s a really good focus for us ahead of the tournament. Everybody’s saying we’re going to go there and walk through and have no problems and the reality of international football isn’t that.
Phil Foden looks dejected.(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
“We’ve got to be far better without the ball than we were today, we’ve got to show more composure with the ball.”
Germany, meanwhile, needed substitute Pascal Gross’s 89th-minute goal to secure the win over Greece a week before they open Euro 2024 against Scotland in Munich.
Georgios Masouras gave Greece the lead in the 34th on the rebound after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer failed to hold a shot from Christos Tzolis. Arsenal forward Kai Havertz levelled in the 56th when he shot on the turn and it went in off Manolis Siopis.
After Benjamin Henrichs sent a shot off the bar in the 83rd, Germany finally took the lead when Gross hit a fierce shot from outside the box.
Neuer’s error came shortly after Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann confirmed he was cutting Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel as he finalised the 26-player squad for the tournament.
Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann are the two other goalkeepers in the squad.
Also Friday, Poland beat neighbours Ukraine 3-1 and Scotland drew 2-2 with Finland.
Romania failed to beat one of Europe’s smallest nations, Liechtenstein, in a 0-0 draw. The Czech Republic cruised to a 7-1 win over Malta while Albania beat Azerbaijan 3-1.
Newshttps://https://ift.tt/7Hu4sGq England booed off after losing to Euro minnows but Southgate claims it’s ‘a really good focus for us’
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