An 86th-minute header from centerback Chris Smalling spared England’s blushes as they squeezed past 10-man Portugal 1-0 at Wembley on Thursday in their final Euro 2016 warm-up game.
While Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was rested following his involvement in Real Madrid’s Champions League final victory over Atletico Madrid last weekend, England manager Roy Hodgson was effectively able to name a full-strength lineup.
With his side’s Group B opener against Russia in Marseille, France, just nine days away, it took Smalling’s first international goal to secure victory after the hosts had toiled badly, despite playing against 10 men following the 35th-minute dismissal of Bruno Alves.
Photo: AFP
A bullish Hodgson told ITV: “I’m not prepared to accept that we didn’t play well. We looked good, we had composure throughout the game and it would have been better to play against 11.”
“I’m not prepared to stand here and criticize some players,” he said. “If I start being dissatisfied with three wins against Australia, Turkey and Portugal, I’m going to be a hard coach to satisfy.”
Despite having prevailed in all three of their pre-tournament friendlies, England will travel to France on Monday accompanied by more doubts than certainties.
Photo: AFP
There was little for Portugal’s supporters to cheer on a chilly night in west London as their team lost to England for the first time in six games, but coach Fernando Santos will have Ronaldo back in his ranks for their final warm-up match against Estonia in Lisbon on Wednesday next week.
“Today was a difficult match,” Santos said. “It was a friendly and we had 10 men. It’s always difficult with 10 men, especially against England and in this atmosphere, but we’re enjoying our preparation and we hope to get better in France.”
England’s fans have been clamoring for Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy to be aligned together in attack, but although Hodgson selected the trio in the same team for the first time, Kane and Vardy took up wide positions, with Rooney in the center.
England were handed an advantage 10 minutes before halftime when Fenerbahce centerback Alves was shown a straight red card for a dangerous, head-high challenge on Kane near England’s right-hand touchline.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker emerged unscathed and shortly afterward he worked Patricio with a drilled shot from Rooney’s pass.
It was a measure of the tedium in the second half that it took nearly 20 minutes for either team to muster a shot on target, with Eric Dier curling a long-ranger straight at Patricio as a Mexican wave rolled lazily around the ground.
With four minutes remaining Raheem Sterling crossed from the left for Smalling to head in the winner.
Elsewhere, Iran defeated Macedonia 3-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
KIRIN CUP
AP, TOYOTA, Japan
Ten-man Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Denmark 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw at the Kirin Cup yesterday.
Captain Haris Medunjanin converted the winning penalty kick for Bosnia, who got two goals from Milan Duric in regulation time. Simon Kjaer and Viktor Fischer scored for Denmark.
Bosnia are to play Japan on Tuesday next week in Osaka for the Kirin Cup title after they beat Bulgaria 7-2 last night.
Additional reporting by staff writer
ASIAN CUP
Staff writer
In Asian Cup qualifying action yesterday, Yemen beat the Maldives 2-0 in their first-leg encounter.
Along with Taiwan’s 2-2 draw against Cambodia on Thursday, India beat Laos 1-0, Malaysia defeated Timor-Leste 3-0 and Tajikistan thrashed Bangladesh 5-0.
Return matches are to be played on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week, with Taiwan to play on Tuesday at the Phnom Penh National Olympic Stadium.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30pm.
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