ClapFootball is often viewed as a game of luck but sometimes, the skill takes over and really does drive you on to do some pretty impressive things. As reported by BBC and The Guardian, the England national team were able to really come into their own earlier this week as they took down Montenegro and confirmed their place in next year’s European Championships.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain opened the scoring within ten minutes of kick-off, and Harry Kane was quick to make it two. The star striker scored again just a few minutes later, before Marcus Rashford got himself on the scoresheet.
Making a statement
Kane managed to round off his hat-trick to make it 5-0 England before half time, and fans couldn’t really believe what they were seeing. While everyone sort of knew this was going to be a strong performance from England, they didn’t expect it to be quite so one sided.
In the second half the hosts were a lot more reserved at Wembley, taking until the 66th minute to add their 6th goal courtesy of a Sofranac own goal. Tammy Abraham then opened his account for the senior team late on, putting the icing on top of a wonderful performance.
England boss Gareth Southgate had plenty of nice things to say about his side after their landmark win.
“We played so well in the first half. I know France have taken a long time tonight to get a victory against Moldova.
“We have won a group that we should win but we have won it comfortably and we have found a way of playing against those lower-ranked teams that defend in numbers. We have found a way to break them down, which maybe in the past we haven’t.”
Forward Harry Kane, on the other hand, took the time to look ahead to the future.
Booking the ticket
“We have had one slip-up in the group and responded really well. We got the job done and wanted to put on a show in our 1,000th game. With five goals in the first half, I think we did that.
“We want to win that game away from home [against Kosovo]. We will enjoy this with one eye on Sunday.”
England will take their qualification momentum on towards a big game against Kosovo tonight, as they prepare to make a real statement against one of the rising nations in European football.
Either way, though, with the controversy of the last week behind them, it certainly seems as if the Three Lions are well on their way towards doing some pretty special things at next year’s tournament.
Montenegro still have a long way to go if they want to be viewed as serious contenders on the European stage, because it just doesn’t seem like they have a cohesive unit within their squad right now. They’ve only served to make up the numbers in qualifying, which is a shame, especially when you see the kind of potential some of their bigger name stars have.
