England final have some attackers that the country can enjoy watching ...
Elsewhere in international football ...
Needless to say, Gareth Southgate was quite pleased with Raheem Sterling ...
Here are your player ratings ...
And so this MBM draws to a close. All that’s left is to point you in the direction of Daniel Taylor’s report. Click and enjoy ... and we hope to see you back here for the Montenegro game on Monday evening! Thanks for reading; nighty night.
Gareth Southgate’s verdict on Sterling’s stunning performance. “Raheem was brilliant, electric all night. He’s looked that all week in training, involved in four of the goals, and I’m really pleased for him. It’s a special night for him. We’ve got exciting wide players, you saw the two young boys as well. Marcus Rashford can play there. We’ve got others. It gets us good offensive players on the field, and higher up the pitch as well. Raheem has really matured as a person and a footballer, he’s hungry for goals and determined to get into the right areas of the pitch. The quality of his finishing, he’s just hitting things instinctively and not thinking about things too much. There was some really good football at times.”
Raheem Sterling, the match ball tucked under his arm, talks! “It was a beautiful team performance. I was happy to help the team, and most importantly we got the win. I’m just confident in myself, trying to get in there and take shots, and not worry about anything. I just go with it. The first goal pleased me the best, to get myself up and running again.”
His captain Harry Kane adds: “It was a brilliant team performance. Everyone worked hard and pressed. We’re enjoying it out there, we’re confident off the back of last summer, and the Nations League. So we feel good. Everyone’s expressing themselves, we’ve got young and hungry players.”
Five goals against one of the great European Championship nations. A hat-trick for Raheem Sterling. Extremely promising displays from Jadon Sancho, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ben Chilwell and Declan Rice. It’s pretty much a perfect start to England’s Euro 2020 qualifying campaign. It’s not a vintage Czech side, sure, but there’s nothing England can do about that. In the other match in Group A, Bulgaria and Montenegro have drawn 1-1, so England sit proudly atop the table. A fine evening’s work.
FULL TIME: England 5-0 Czech Republic
How about that Raheem Sterling, huh. Thanks to a hat-trick from the flying Manchester City winger, England’s Euro 2020 qualification campaign is off to a flyer. Next up: Montenegro on Monday night!
90 min: Happily for England, the youngster is soon up and about. Happily for the Czechs, there will only be two minutes of added time.
89 min: Hudso-Odoi is down, having collided with Vydra. He looks to have fallen awkwardly on his side, the area he’s clutching.
87 min: Maguire takes an agricultural swipe at the ball, and smacks into Vydra’s shin on the follow-through. That’s not particularly dainty, nor adroit, and will have been a sore one for the Burnley striker. He’s good to continue, though.
86 min: The noise at Wembley is quite something. And no wonder. The 82,575 punters have been treated to an excellent display by England, and in particular the quite magnificent Raheem Sterling.
GOAL! England 5-0 Czech Republic (Kalas og 84)
Sancho turns in the midfield and drives towards goal. He sends a pass wide left for Hudson-Odoi, who dribbles powerfully into the box, opens his body, and sidefoots low and hard towards the bottom right. Pavlenka does well to get a hand to the shot, but can’t do anything as it rebounds to Kalamity Kalas, who can’t get out of the way and slap-traps clumsily into the bottom right. Oh dear.
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82 min: Beep beep! Here comes Skoda, taking the place of Schick.
81 min: Soucek, just to the right of the England box, slips a pass inside for Vydra, who snatches at his shot from eight yards. The ball flashes wide of the right-hand post. He should have scored.
80 min: Soucek tries to get the Czechs bouncing down the right this time, but his rolled pass up the flank is miscontrolled by Vydra and England clear their lines.
78 min: It’s party atmosphere in Wembley. Scdhick and Soucek causing Walker and Maguire a few problems down the left doesn’t change that.
76 min: Kane turns in from the left and tries to send a curler into the bottom right. Pavlenka does very well to stick out a strong arm and save. “No shame in losing heavily away from home to a side that are moving up the Fifa world rankings, is there?” asks Simon McMahon, who may or may not be obliquely referring to this:
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74 min: Schick has a whack from distance. It’s a screamer, too, inches wide of the left-hand post. Pickford wasn’t getting to it.
73 min: Sterling’s second, in the visual style.
2️⃣ for @sterling7 👏
— England (@England) March 22, 2019
3️⃣ for the #ThreeLions 🙌pic.twitter.com/88hvEPjKM4
72 min: More space for Chilwell down the left. His cross is met by Barkley, rising highest, but the resulting header flashes wide right. The Czechs just want to get out of here.
70 min: OK, so that hat-trick goal might be taken off Sterling, as I’m not 100 percent sure his shot was on target, having been set out to the right. However, I’m not sure it wasn’t, either, and who could deny an England hat-trick for this genuinely world-class winger? It’s Sterling’s! And it’s his last act of the evening, as he makes way for Hudson-Odoi.
GOAL! England 4-0 Czech Republic (Sterling 68)
Sterling is so hot right now. He completes his hat-trick by cutting in from the left and going for a curler into the top right. The ball pings off Celustka’s back and into the top left, past a wrong-footed Pavlenka!
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67 min: Darida comes on for Masopust. Lukas. What the Czechs would give for a modern-day Josef right now.
66 min: Sancho scoops a clever ball down the inside right to release Barkley into the area. Barkley’s centre is once again inaccurate, and the visitors can back clear. The Czechs are in damage-limitation mode now, with England looking dangerous in attack again after their stuttering start to the second half.
64 min: Republic of Ireland fans look away: here comes Declan Rice in an England shirt. He comes on for Alli, recently back from injury, his race run.
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GOAL! England 3-0 Czech Republic (Sterling 62)
Alli slips a fine pass down the inside-right channel for Sterling. Novak slides in, and once again the luck’s not with him. His hook clear rebounds off Kalas and back into the path of Sterling, who has his back to goal. Sterling takes a touch, tricks Celustka by turning inside, and curls a delicious shot into the top left past a helpless Pavlenka! What a wonderful finish by this sensational player!
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61 min: It’s all a bit scrappy again. But out of the manic pinball nonsense ...
59 min: Alli robs Darida out on the left, and sends Sterling away. Sterling shuttles the ball forward to Kane on the overlap. Kane pulls one back from the byline for Sancho, who can’t connect properly. But the ball breaks off the sliding Novak, then pinballs onto Alli and over the bar from six yards! Alli very close to scoring one of the most farcical goals you’d ever see there.
57 min: Henderson tries to shake England into life again with a burst down the left. But he’s forced to turn back on himself. The home side haven’t been half as dominant since the restart.
55 min: Space for Chilwell down the left. His cross confuses Kalas and Celustka, whose slapstick coming-together nearly ends with the ball sailing into the right-hand side of their own net. Pavlenka does extremely well to swish the ball off the line and away from danger.
53 min: Pickford tries to launch an instant counter and is closed down by Schick, who is booked for his intervention.
52 min: And again they nearly make England pay for what is now officially a Slow Start to the second half. A corner on the right finds its way to Pavelka, eight yards out. England are fortunate Pavelka’s first-time shot is weak and straight at Pickford.
51 min: A free kick for the Czechs out on the right. It’s flashed into the box. Soucek meets it with a diving header, level with the right-hand post, 12 yards out. He eyebrows it across Pickford, the ball sailing an inch wide of the left-hand post. So close to getting the Czechs back in the game!
49 min: Pavelka goes for goal from 25 yards. It’s no good. England counter through Sancho, who from a position to the right of the centre circle, nearly releases Barkley down the inside-left channel. His pass just evades Barkley ... as well as Kalas, who launches himself in the air horizontally and attempts an absurd clearance. Was he trying a Keith Houchen style header or a Rene Higuita scorpion kick? It could have been either. Or both. Anyway, he misses the ball altogether. The Czechs clear.
48 min: But eventually they get moving. Kane, once again quarterbacking from deep, pings a pass down the right to release Barkley into space. The resulting cross isn’t much cop, but this already looks like more of the same as England continue to dominate possession.
47 min: It’s not an exciting start to the half. England roll the ball around the back awhile.
We’re off again! England get the second half underway. The Czech Republic have made a change, replacing Jankto with Matěj Vydra of Burnley.
Half-time entertainment: It’s going well for England at Wembley; over in Brussels, not so much. The incomparable Marina Hyde reports.
HALF TIME: England 2-0 Czech Republic
That’s the very last act of the half. The teams troop to the dressing rooms, the Czechs feeling slightly aggrieved at the penalty award, which was in the area of soft-to-generous - was Sterling going to get the ball, and was he really impeded unfairly? - though you can make a case for as well as against. Either way, England are fully deserving of the half-time lead. They’ve been much the better side.
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GOAL! England 2-0 Czech Republic (Kane 45+2 pen)
What price a Panenka against the Czechs? That’d be cute, wouldn’t it. But Kane opts for power instead. Which is just as well, because his shot, to the left side of the goal, is close enough for Pavlenka to get a hand on the ball. Kane’s given it a real belt, though, and the keeper’s hand hinges back and the ball reaches its intended destination.
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Penalty for England!
45 min +1: Sterling looks to dribble into the Czech area, chasing a cute Alli backheel down the inside-left. Kaderabek and Kalas close the door by coming together. But the referee says they’ve blocked Sterling, who was trying to squeeze through the middle, unfairly! Did he run into the defenders, or did they bowl him over? Hmm. Kaderabek is booked, anyway.
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45 min: Kane, on the edge of the Czech box, turns and attempts an ambitious chip towards the top left. The ball deflects out for a corner, which is easily cleared. “That’s got to be the first time anyone has referred to Raheem Sterling’s leg as telescopic,” notes Dan C, tape measure hanging loosely over his shoulders.
43 min: Both teams seem happy enough to settle for a 1-0 half-time scoreline. Because there’s not an awful lot going on.
41 min: Darida makes good down the inside-right channel and is preparing to shoot when Alli pokes the ball away from him, and out for a corner. The referee blows for a foul at the set piece when Henderson is manhandled by Schick.
39 min: And here’s another fine contribution from Sancho, who Garrinchas his way down the inside right to earn a corner. The Czechs are all over the shop while defending the set piece, Kane seeing a snapshot from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box cleared, Barkley nearly bursting clear down the left when England come again. The ball’s eventually hacked away.
37 min: Ah, this is a bit better. Sancho, out on the right corner of the box, nearly opens up the Czechs by rolling a diagonal pass towards Sterling, six yards out. Celustka hooks clear.
36 min: Jankto high-kicks the ball away from Henderson, who goes down upon being brushed. He wants a free kick but he’s not getting it. This has suddenly become uneventful and scrappy.
34 min: A lull. Which allows us to present SATIRE CORNER with John O’Donnell: “England winning? I blame Raheem.”
32 min: Darida curls the free kick into the England box. Walker contorts his body to clear brilliantly under pressure from Schick, but it’s a free kick anyway, because Kane was tugged back by Kalas.
31 min: Kane shapes to shoot from 25 yards, but falls over. His playmaking has been more impressive than his striking skills tonight. So far. That allows Schick to tear off up the other end. He lays off to Darida, who is clumsily bowled over by Barkley, 25 yards out on the left. A free kick and a chance for the Czechs to load the box.
29 min: The Czechs are on the ropes right now. Walker nearly burns Novak down the right. He’s forced to turn back, but lays off to Kane, who scoops a cross into the mixer. Pavlenka does well to come out and claim, with the effervescent Sterling lurking nearby, sniffing more glory.
28 min: The England goal, in moving picture form.
What a well worked goal by @England!
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 22, 2019
The front three combine and @Sanchooo10 squares for @sterling7 who finishes a lovely move! ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/6oWHkO4ZGe
26 min: Sterling is so hot right now. That’ll give Sancho a boost, too. He’d been pretty quiet, save a couple of unspectacular and unsuccessful dribbles. But he was alert there, and teed up his team-mate with a cross of fuss-free perfection. Sterling couldn’t miss.
GOAL! England 1-0 Czech Republic (Sterling 24)
This was deliciously simple. Kane, playmaking from deep, splits the Czech defence with a sliderule pass down the inside-right channel. Sancho is in behind! And he rolls a simple ball across the front of the six-yard box. Pavlenka is out of position, having been drawn towards Sancho, and Sterling sticks out a telescopic leg to guide the cross into the net!
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23 min: The Czechs launch their first sortie into England territory. Kaderabek romps down the inside-right channel, before laying off to Darida inside. Darida has time to take a touch and shape a shot towards the top left from 25 yards. Fortunately for England his geometry is all out of whack, and it flies harmlessly over the bar.
21 min: More England possession, though they’re not doing a whole lot with theirs, either. One for the purists so far.
19 min: Schick looks to break up the Czech left, but he’s unceremoniously upended by Walker. The Czechs send the free kick backwards, as opposed to committing players forward. A defensive approach, much as Southgate suspected in his pre-match interview. They’ve not got into England’s final third yet.
17 min: Dier departs, though it’s not Rice who replaces him. Ross Barkley comes on instead. It was probably a little bit too early to be throwing the debutant Rice into the thick of the action.
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15 min: Kane wedges a fine pass down the inside-right channel for Sterling, who tries to trap and turn just inside the area. He falls over instead, under pressure from the nearby Kaderabek. Wembley screams for a penalty, but England aren’t getting one. The correct decision.
14 min: Soucek had stood on Dier’s foot while making that aforementioned challenge, and the England man’s down on the turf feeling sore. Declan Rice leaps to his feet and warms up, receiving a smattering of applause as he does so. But he’ll not get on yet. Dier is back up - rubbing his hip, which suggests he’s not ailing as a result of Soucek’s tackle - and good to continue for now.
12 min: The Czechs are beginning to work their way into the match, having been dominated early on. Darida threatens to burst clear down the right but doesn’t trust himself and turns tail. But this is some welcome possession for the visitors.
10 min: Soucek goes in hard, recklessly so, on Dier. If the England man’s early challenge on Selassie was close to a booking, that one was surely over the line. But the referee awards a foul, nothing more. The referee in generous mood. It’s still early, I guess.
9 min: England are hogging possession in the early exchanges. They’re looking dangerous on the wings, both full-backs pushing forward. Chilwell had a little look down the left a minute ago; now Walker is found in acres down the right. His cross isn’t great, but it’s good enough to earn a corner. Nothing much comes from the set piece, but this is encouraging for England.
7 min: Sancho sends Henderson into a little space down the right. Henderson gets to the ball just before it goes out for a goal kick, looping a cross into the box. Pavlenka flaps a bit, but does just about enough to paw it away from the danger zone.
5 min: England stroke it around the back again. Walker plays a heavy ball inside from the right, nearly letting Pavelka in, but Keane is on hand to intercept the pass just in time.
4 min: Dier slides in on Selassie. It’s not a great challenge, and he’s a little fortunate not to go in the book. Hey, it’s early.
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3 min: Now the Czechs have a go at rolling the ball around. A measured start by both sides.
And we’re off! The Czechs get us underway, and quickly give up possession. A chance for most of the England team to get an early touch of the ball, as it’s stroked about hither and yon. Both sets of fans contributing to a lovely bubbling atmosphere.
But before the game starts, Wembley pays its respect to Gordon Banks, one of the heroes of 1966. Fred Pickering, another England star of the sixties who passed last month, is also remembered. Wave after wave of the warmest, most heartfelt applause. RIP.
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The teams are out! England wear their world-famous white, while the representatives of Czechia sport their similarly storied first-choice red. A rare old atmosphere at Wembley. The Czech anthem is stately and grand. Altogether now!
Where my home is, where my home is
Water roars across the meadows
Pinewoods rustle among rocks
The orchard is glorious with spring blossom
Paradise on earth it is to see
And this is that beautiful land
The Czech land, my home
The Czech land, my home!
And then God Save the Queen, which is similar of tempo. You know the words. We’ll be off in two shakes!
The ever-likeable Gareth Southgate speaks to Independent Television. “There’s a lot of excitement in the squad. The fact we’ve got a full house and people are excited means a lot to them. So we’ve got to make sure we put on a performance that excites the fans, and stick with the things that have got us a lot of improvement over the last 12 months. Callum Hudson-Odoi was close to starting: he’s trained really well and we’d have had no hesitation in starting him. Jadon Sancho has had a little bit longer working with us, and a little bit more understanding of how we are. But Callum has been excellent. They are very confident boys, and that’s credit to the older players as well, who have created an environment to which they can come in and feel they can be themselves. Declan Rice has trained really well, and we’d have had no hesitation to start him, but he’s only had a few days with us. We need some of our leaders on the field, having made some changes. It’s important to have stability as well as new attacking talent. It’ll be interesting to see how the Czechs approach it. They look a little more defensive in midfield, so we’ll have to be patient - but also play at a tempo that makes things uncomfortable for them. We’ll be judged on results and performance, and you have to deliver both. We’ve got to handle that expectation.”
A peek inside the changing rooms. England’s shirt is so pretty in its crisp simplicity. Sir Alf would have approved. The pennant Harry Kane will hand over is equally free of baroque embellishment. Shades of Fiorentina violet in the Wembley lighting.
The Czech captain and playmaker Borek Dockal is missing as the result of a calf injury. Hertha Berlin midfielder Vladimir Darida will take on his pre-match duties, handing over this beautifully stitched number. A different approach to tassel deployment, you’ll already have noticed: around the point of the inverted chevron only, none up the sides. There’s no one correct answer in the world of faux-heraldic design.
Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund makes his first competitive start for England. Marcus Rashford’s ankle injury gives him that opportunity in attack. England’s other 18-year-old sensation Callum Hudson-Odoi has to make do with a place on the bench. The Chelsea youngster will sit in the dugout alongside the Republic of Ireland’s West Ham United’s Declan Rice, both desperate to make their debuts.
The teams
England: Pickford, Walker, Keane, Maguire, Chilwell, Alli, Dier, Henderson, Sancho, Kane, Sterling.
Subs: Heaton, Trippier, Rose, Tarkowski, Rice, Ward-Prowse, Barkley, Wilson, Hudson-Odoi, Butland.
Czech Republic: Pavlenka, Kaderabek, Celustka, Kalas, Novak, Soucek, Pavelka, Gebre Selassie, Darida, Jankto, Schick.
Subs: Kolar, Coufal, Zmrhal, Dockal, Frydek, Masopust, Kral, Suchy, Kudela, Vydra, Skoda, Koubek.
Referee: Artur Soraes Dias (Portugal).
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Preamble
On the whole, England enjoy the European Championship qualifiers. In their entire history of participation, stretching back to 1964, they’ve played 96 qualification matches, and only lost ten. Nearly a third of those came under that campaign under Steve McClaren. Oh Steve. Set that fiasco aside, and England haven’t lost one of these qualifiers since November 1999, when Scotland beat them at Wembley. And even then, they still went through to the finals.
Last time round, they won ten out of ten. Well done, Roy! England are unbeaten in their last 18 European qualifiers, ever since McClaren’s rain-soaked Waterloo against Croatia in 2007, so hopes will be high that Gareth Southgate’s World Cup semi-finalists can continue that impressive trend. Especially as they’ve only lost at Wembley once under Southgate, against Spain in the Nations League last year.
Furthermore, England’s record against the Czech Republic is good, though the sample size is small. Two matches. Both friendly. One victory: 2-0 at Wembley, Darren Anderton and Paul Merson with the first-half goals. One draw: 2-2 at Wembley in 2008, Joe Cole equalising at the death. England had the number of recognised predecessors Czechoslovakia too, winning seven of 12. Though it didn’t always go England’s way ... and the weird and wonderful story of Euro 76 is always worth telling.
The Czechs have a great record in the Euros. As Czechoslovakia they won the thing in 1976, and came third in 1960 and 1980. As the Czech Republic, they were runners-up in 1996 and semi-finalists in 2004. Coming off the back of a couple of 1-0 wins, against Poland and Slovakia last November, they’ll be hoping this is the start of another glorious run. The team doesn’t boast so many big names as it once did: Tomas Vaclik keeps goal for Sevilla while Patrick Schick leads the line for Roma, but that’s about it. Though there’s no bigger name in Czech football than Masopust ... the Slavia Prague midfielder Lukáš’s monicker inevitably conjuring memories of the legendary Josef, who inspired Czechoslovakia to the 1962 World Cup final.
It’s Wembley in springtime. It’s the start of England’s Euro 2020 bid. It’s on! Kick off is at 7.45pm GMT, 8.45pm back in Prague.
