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England’s discover a perfect, potent blend of skill in attacking trio | Barney Ronay

Gareth Southgate’s attack of Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Jadon Sancho complemented each other to great effect in England’s exciting victory over Czech RepublicThree perfect touches at the end of twenty-five. The opening goal of a room temperature qualifier at a fidgety Wembley stadium might not be the kind of moment around international mini-eras are built around.But England’s opener here, at the end of a move involving ten players, was special for various reasons. Not least as confirmation that Gareth Southgate is able to draw new elements and new rhythms from his team. So many England managers have stuck to a script, grown fat on the job. Sven Goran Eriksson sat scratching his chin watching his England team play the...

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Nations League: 10 things to look out for in the international matches

Montenegro and Serbia’s historic meeting, unhappy memories for England and the Republic of Ireland, and Georgi Petkov’s international return – at 42Twelve years after Montenegro achieved independence and 11 years after they were formally recognised by Fifa, they meet Serbia for the first time. The match is, according to goalkeeper Danijel Petkovic, the biggest in the nation’s history. After two games the teams are level on points at the top of Group C4, adding competitive edge to an already spicy encounter. Serbia are far from full strength: Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic is one of several players to have dropped out of the squad since the World Cup after falling out with the manager, Mladen Krstajic, while the captain, Nemanja Matic,...

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