Harry Kane strikes late to take England through to Nations League finals

In the end, it became another test of character. An examination of a young side’s ability to rouse themselves just as the occasion was veering cruelly off script, with all that giddy pre-match expectation threatening to give way to familiar, asphyxiating anticlimax. Previous England teams might have cramped up, accepting the worst. Plenty of these players had been left drained and dispirited back at the Luzhniki Stadium in July once Croatia, such familiar opponents, had seized the momentum. But lessons have clearly been learned.

This current crop have something about them, a conviction that has been forged by a relaxed, appealing atmosphere around their training camps and a comfort with the style of play implemented and encouraged by the management staff. They appear to be a better team now than they were in the summer, and certainly a squad with more options to explore, so, once behind and chasing, their late rally was almost to be expected. Gareth Southgate’s team were five minutes away from being relegated to Division B of Uefa’s new competition. From one extreme to the other, up stepped the captain to force them into the inaugural finals.

Continue reading…