(England – Hungary 0-4) Five months before the World Cup in Qatar, there have been tough days for England boss Gareth Southgate’s team. On Tuesday, there was another loss for Hungary. The reaction wasn’t long in coming.
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– This is an earthquake, said TV 2 expert Erik Thorstvedt during the channel’s broadcast on Tuesday night.
The reaction came shortly after that defeat, which was the worst home loss in home football since 1928 when it was 1-5 against Scotland.
– England’s lousy League of Nations tournament continues, writes BBC.
– Embarrassing defeat ends a series of miserable Nations League matches, writes Daily mail.
– Gareth Soutgate’s men were bottomless when they lost at home to Hungary, writes Glass.
“The Hungar Shames” is a tabloid newspaper Sun headline, a play on the movie «The Hunger Games». The England team was described as “terrible”.
For England have had a bad start to the Nations League this year. Two draws and two defeats against group leaders Hungary is the final after four games. Now England are definitely last in their group with two points.
Thorstvedt’s TV 2 partner, Morten Langli, stated he was “barely speechless”, after seeing manager Gareth Southgate thank the home fans for their support after the humiliating defeat.
– No time to panic
England captain Harry Kane did not want to blacken his performance against Hungary. He said they did not have the last few chances they created, but gave up few when they finished 0-2 down.
– There’s no time to panic. It’s time to throw it away and move on. “Then we’ll come back stronger in September,” Kane said in an interview that aired on TV 2.
He was then asked what he thought of the now impending criticism. Kane thinks one should not forget what kind of year the England national team left behind.
Among other things, the European Cup final against Italy last summer and the 2018 World Cup semi-final. He repeated his message not to panic, although he admitted he wanted to forget all about Tuesday’s performances.
– But I understand the frustration. We will win every time we wear that suit. But we can’t win every game. The audience has to understand that. “But we will work in the future to achieve a successful World Cup,” said Kane.
He was finally asked about England boss Southgate’s confidence. Kane felt no need to answer.
– Surprising achievements
Reaction to the crushing defeat at home does not await on the ball island.
– A surprising achievement. The players were absent and his attitude was wrong. I understand the frustration of the fans, Joe Cole told Channel 4, according to BBC.
The former national team player and Chelsea winger asked the following questions:
– Does Gareth Southgate know what he’s doing? Of course, he has led the team to the semifinals and finals. But this is terrible.
Ashley Cole has over a hundred internationals for England. He said the following to the same channel:
– They want to look in the mirror and know that it’s not good enough. They had several reasons, but they met Hungary, who were hungry and wanted a win.
Trying to take action
The free kick which was the cause of the 1-0 score opened the Hungarian goal celebration. A far post beyond 16 meters for the home side ended with Freiburg’s Rolland Sallai slotting the ball into the net behind Aaron Ramsdale.
There were no more goals before half-time, but already in the first half manager Southgate tried to take action.
He brought on Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling and a quarter of an hour later he switched to club-mate Phil Foden.
But healthy feet did little for the home team. Instead of an equaliser, they had to watch Ramsdale take another ball from his own net as Sallai scored twice in the 70th minute.
Taking error
Then things got worse ten minutes from the end when Zsolt Nagy scored 3-0 from distance.
As if that weren’t enough, John Stones received his second yellow and red card just minutes later. That was after the Hungarian player ran to the defender.
And the same player who ensured that England were reduced to ten men, Daniel Gazdag, ensured two minutes from full time that it ended 4-0 for the visitors.
England boss Gareth Southgate was clearly impressed by the result when he was interviewed after the game.
He explained that he picked the youth team for the occasion, that they had too many offensive players on the pitch looking for goals and they were wide open when they defended. He also said that the result was his responsibility.
– I tried to balance this, by looking at new players and resting some. But in the end, the team has not been good enough in the two games against Hungary.
New opportunities in September
With two games remaining, England are threatened with relegation to the Nations League. Now they have the last place in the group which means relegation to group B.
The next two English Nations League matches are away against Italy on 23 September and at home against Germany on 26 September.
- In the second group game, it also narrowed nicely on Tuesday night: Germany beat defending European champions Italy 5-2. After four of six games, this means Hungary are top with seven points, Germany have six, Italy five and England last with two.
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