England suffers a humiliating defeat against Hungary to begin their Nations League campaign where Gareth Southgate’s side lost 1-0 to Hungary.
Hungary defeated the Three Lions for the first time in 60 years thanks to a second-half penalty from Dominik Szoboszlai.
England almost fell down after a promising start when Szoboszlai was found with a cross,
only for Conor Coady to clear his goal-bound shot off the line. The hosts showed plenty of attacking intent,
and were committed to getting behind England’s high defensive line, even as they continued to dominate possession.
After neither side could break the deadlock in the first 45 minutes, Zsolt Nagy’s long-range strike fizzed,
past Jordan Pickford’s post to give Hungary the lead after the half. Szoboszlai scored from the spot after Reece James was penalized for a foul in the box shortly after the hour mark, giving the hosts the lead they deserved.
It needed a goal to spark England into action, and chances for Jarrod Bowen, Jude Bellingham, and Coady came and went rapidly.
Harry Kane believed he’d equalized late on, only for his shot to hit the side netting instead of the back of the net. As England’s long unbeaten run comes to an end with poor performance, prime9sport Football has the main talking points.
Before kick-off in Budapest, England players were booed as they took a knee
Football isn’t what it used to be behind closed doors..
Instead of hearing the echoes of an empty stadium, UEFA made it possible for roughly 30,000 young fans,
to apply for free tickets in these circumstances.
Those in attendance, perhaps most sadly, chose to boo England as they took a knee before kick-off.
Will Southgate field a four-man defense or a five-man defense? This is the question that will likely dominate the next five months.
The Three Lions have shown that they can adapt to different systems and that they have the players to do both.
The same issues were evident against a team with far less quality than the one they will face in the World Cup.
There’s still a sense that the balance isn’t quite correct, even with five defenders and two deeper lying midfielders.
If the majority of England’s players agreed, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham would be the starting midfield duo.
You could count England’s chances on one finger before they fell down 1-0 and that,
won’t fly in Qatar when they face the big guns in the knockout stages.
Despite the World Cup moving to the winter, there was a lot of debate leading into this match.
regarding the pressures on players due to a busy schedule of international matches.
Between the end of the Premier League and the commencement of this game,
many members of the England team had less than three weeks.
“It’s difficult when you’re playing at the highest level because it takes a lot out of the body physically and mentally,
” Kane remarked before the game. “Three weeks off is clearly insufficient time to recover psychologically and physically,
” he says.
And England appeared to be a team in desperate need of a long break. That doesn’t explain the performance fully,
but it may provide some insight into why a team with so much talent appeared so sluggish.
Next up is Germany
On Tuesday night, Southgate’s team travels to Munich, where their old adversaries,
will be hoping to avenge their defeat at Euro 2020.
when viewed strictly through the prism of World Cup preparation.
In the heat of the Hungarian capital, Justin struggled a little, with Marco Rossi’s side focusing much of their attacking,
effort down his side.