Gareth Southgate expressed his satisfaction with England's performance in their 1-0 loss to Brazil but he praised his trio of debutants as he experimented ahead of Euro 2024.
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The home team, one of the favorites for Euro 2024, showed moments of brilliance but struggled to score against their well-organized opponents at Wembley. They also had some shaky moments in defense. The game seemed to be heading for a goalless draw until 17-year-old substitute Endrick scored in the 80th minute after coming off the bench.
Gareth Southgate refused to criticize his team, insisting he was happy with their display.
“I was pleased,” Southgate continued. “I don’t like losing matches. I thought there were lots of very good individual performances from players who’ve hardly played for England. I thought our regular players were very good. With 15 minutes to go, we’re thinking we’ve managed to see a lot of new players. We’ve had our share of the game. We’ve had as many attempts on goal as they have. The difference in the end was one moment. That is the ruthlessness at this level.
“I know when you lose, there will always be a negative reaction. But, given all the changes that we’d made, I thought the crowd were with the team. They could see a lot of young players going in and doing well. I’m not down on the performance.”
England had difficulty posing a threat to Brazil without Kane, who will be returning to Bayern Munich for further treatment of his injured ankle. Bukayo Saka's absence on the right flank was also noticeable. Ollie Watkins found it challenging to make an impact as Kane's replacement.
“We’re playing a top team, so chances are going to be limited.”. “But I was really pleased with the players who went in. We need to find out about them. We need to know where we might head if we didn’t have Harry for a big match. I thought Ollie did a good job. He didn’t get that clear chance on goal, but a lot of his work was very good. It was a good experiment.”
Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon impressed in his debut. Additionally, Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa and Manchester United's teenage midfield prodigy, Kobbie Mainoo, won their first caps as substitutes.
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