England v Italy- 17th October 2023
Is this the redemption story every England fan wanted?
England is here to stay, qualifying for the Euro 2024 in their home away from home in Germany. We are 16 points clear in Group C. They beat Italy in Wembley 3-1, but this did not wipe the slate clean from the heartache of 2021, even when Rashford scored a clinical second goal to put England ahead. This game segmented what every England fan knows about Kane, that he will score from the spot under any conditions, bringing his international tally to 61 goals.
But the show's real star was the young talent of Jude Bellingham, who only turned 18 years old the day England beat Germany under the new Wembley arches in the 2021 Euros: Jude Bellingham is the next David Beckham of the midfield. Just like Beck, he has the talent for a young age, composure, and maturity. He got England the penalty coming from behind, and Kane converted it to put the teams at level. Southgate described the 20-year-old “ his mentality is incredible. To show such maturity and humility at such a young age, we’re lucky to have him”. Bellingham received player of the match and has been described as the best summer transfer to Real Madrid.
Italy, however, has fallen from Grace since that fateful night in Italy. The stars of that game have seemed to exist in this team, and the fall has been steep and full of obstacles. They were unable to qualify again for the World Cup, repeating their unfortunate habit of 2018, and they've yet to be eligible for the next euro. It seems out of reach for them to retain their converted title, but was it there for the taking? The passes on the pitch didn’t just plague this game but also off the pitch. Sandro Toali and Mciholo Zaniolo withdrew from the squad before training started due to an investigation into illegal betting. Italy already had a steep uphill battle before walking out of the tunnel.
The four goals were splattered on the front page of all the newspapers on Saturday morning. Italy took advantage of John Stone not being on top of the ball and being in the correct defensive position when Destiny Udogie and Stephan El Shaarawy combined and capitalised on a sack of England marking and put Itay ahead. Although it seems that it would be a repeat of 2021, this England Squad banded together, and that resulted in a penalty being given by Giovanni Di Lorenzo for lunging in on Bellingham, leading Kane to coolly do what he does best for the club and country and levelled the playing field. That was not the end of the first-half antics by any means. This was not the end. England lost their relaxed near stoppage time in the first half, and Italy took this opportunity to fire a ball towards Pickford's goal, but with a one-handed save, Italy was still behind at the break.
That was enough of a sign for England to pull up their socks and emerge in the second half, all guns blazing. Phillips fired the ball to Phil Foden, who used his feet and fantastic skills to lay the ball off for Rashford to put England ahead of Italy for the first time since. This goal was full of the next golden boys, from Foden feeding to Bellingham to the young talent of Rashfrod, who buried a low finish; they are the future of this team.
That wasn’t the end of the goal for England to secure the lead. Kane added the third goal after Donnarumma saved an electric Foden attempt. Kane held off two Italian defenders to go on one through the goalkeeper, breaking more records than possible. Our captain and leader, Kane, became the country's leading scorer at Wembley with 24 goals. He turned this team's round with that penalty and gave everyone the green card to party as England celebrated and advanced into their eighth consecutive major tournament.
England
- Pickford
- Walker
- Stones
- Maguire
- Trippier
- Phillips
- Rice
- Bellingham
- Foden
- Rashford
- Kane
Subs
- Guehi
- Henderson
- Grealish
Italy
- Donnarumma
- Di Lorenzo
- Scalvini
- Acerbi
- Udogie
- Frattesi
- Cristante
- Barella
- Berardi
- Scamacca
- El Shaarawy
Subs
- Dimarco
- Bastoni
- Kean
- Raspador
- Orsolini
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