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,...
Gareth Southgate has been hoping Phil Foden would get more action at Manchester City but that will not happen soon so why not call him up for England now, with Euro 2020 in mind?Phil Foden has left enough positive impressions in the formative stages of his career that I hope it will not come across as too po-faced to ask whether this supremely talented footballer – and perhaps some of the people around him – can avoid getting too carried away now he is starting to benefit from the trappings of his industry.That is not meant to sound impertinent but perhaps you saw the photograph of Foden that was circulated via Instagram on his 18th birthday. Can you imagine the...
The Manchester United forward may have pushed his case ahead of Sterling as a poor Switzerland were beaten 1-0There were times when, at best, this felt like a persuasive argument for all things Nations League. Uefa’s brainchild at least provides a competitive edge at a time of year when international friendlies are prone to drift, while ring-rusty players attempt to summon some rhythm before the glut of second-half replacements disrupts the tempo still further.Gareth Southgate must have surveyed the scene at the interval and, Danny Rose’s energy and the odd flash of incision from Marcus Rashford aside, wondered if this whole exercise had any discernible merit. The realist in him saw it coming, of course. He knew he had picked...
Manchester United striker’s slick opener and a frantic finale cannot mask the deep-rooted problems England still face when playing against top-grade opponentsGareth Southgate must have feared the homecoming might turn out this way, with a slap in the face to shrug the nation out of all the giddiness of the summer’s exploits. The Nations League will clearly have the capacity to thrill, the tempo and edge to this contest so much more appealing than a humdrum qualifier against a minnow’s massed defence. But this young side’s development will have to continue in the unforgiving environment of competitive fixtures against pedigree opposition. Related: England 1-2 Spain player ratings: Nations League winners and losers Related: Rodrigo consigns England to defeat by Spain...
Spain are the visitors in the Nations League on Saturday, the sort of opponents that, for all the panting hysteria, Gareth Southgate’s side struggled against at the World CupIt’s time to play the music. It’s time to light the lights. It’s time to meet the 55 members of Uefa’s inaugural Nations League as streamed into four coefficient-based subsets.Yes, it’s finally here. European football’s latest format kicked into gear this week, with World Cup semi-finalists England facing also-rans Spain on Saturday in what is an unusually tasty-looking first post-tournament fixture. Related: Playmaker Pickford recognises the limits of his footballing ability You remember it, don't you? The sun baked the earth, beer fell from the sky and everyone lost themselves in football...