ENGLAND 1 PORTUGAL 0

BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM

It was meant to be a game to send off the England team to France with hope for the fans.  A sign in one of the stands during the anthem read “Together For England.” Not with this poor performance that saw them just squeeze past a Portuguese side, which was reduced to ten men and bereft of their king Cristiano Ronaldo.

The game failed to live up to its billing probably due to a cautious approach by both teams as no one wanted to get injured this close to a major tournament.  Chances were at a premium and the closest we came to a goal was at the half hour mark when Kyle Walker hit a screamer from distance, which was just wide of Rui Patricio’s goal.   Moments later Portugal were reduced to ten men as Bruno Alves was sent off for a high tackle on Harry Kane. 

Seven minutes before the break England found some space as they moved the ball from right to left through Wayne Rooney who found Kane. However Patricio comfortably gathered Kane’s decent effort.

Second half substitute Ricardo Quaresmo nearly provided a moment of magic as he twisted and turned the England defence inside out but his curled shot was just wide of the Joe Hart’s left post.  With five minutes of the game left England finally broke the deadlock. Jack Wilshere worked the ball out to the left wing and gave it to Raheem Sterling who’s cross was met by a sweet header by Chris Smalling which found the bottom corner of Patricio’s net. 

The goal still did not mask the poor performance by England, which at best was pedestrian. Portugal also failed to show that they are not a one-man team, with Cristiano Ronaldo given the night off after his Champions League triumph with Real Madrid.

No matter whom Roy Hodgson picked in his final squad of 23 there were always going to be some concerns and talking points.  England had no width. There is a case for Andros Townsend’s inclusion, as he would have lit up Wembley. That is now academic and Hodgson would just have to trust in the players he has chosen.  Wilshere showed in a few minutes on the pitch why he was selected as he was involved in the goal and was confident on the ball. 

Roy Hodgson said: “ Three different games. I would have preferred it to stay 11 against 11 tonight. It then became an exercise in us trying to break them down. I am happy we won three games going into a tournament especially with the quality of the opposition. We will go to France confident we can keep this going. We are not the finished article but I do not know any teams that are the finished article.”

For 50 years England have been searching. There is always room for improvement but do England have time?