So, that wasn’t so bad was it? Italy deserved their 1-0 lead, with England looking tentative and disjointed despite Rooney hitting the bar. Things improved after the interval, with Michael Carrick’s introduction corresponding with better ball retention and Ross Barkley’s arrival providing some attacking thrust. Kieran Gibbs missed a chance but Andros Townsend, another sub, cracked in an excellent equaliser and Wayne Rooney should – should? – have won it after that. Italy had chances of their own on the break, notably through Ciro Immobile.
Harry Kane? He had a couple of decent efforts and nodded down nicely for Rooney’s woodwork shot, but rarely looked particularly like scoring. He won’t reinvent the wheel every time so be patient, eh?
Things England can take from this in particular include Carrick’s usefulness and the fact that there is, when harnessed correctly, a pacy, dynamic set of attacking options bursting to get out. Phil Jagielka deserves praise for an outstanding performance at the back too.
There you go. Thanks for your company and for lots of really good emails tonight. We reproduced what we could. Goodnight, and see you soon.
Updated
Ed Wilson asks: “Can I suggest that any journalist or commentator making an able/Abel pun on Harry Kane’s name be immediately dismissed, without recourse to appeal?”
Why do you think they resorted to asking me to do this?
Full-time: Italy 1-1 England
A Fair Result.
90+3 min: Free-kick to England not far outside the area on the right. This will be the last action. And Townsend’s ball is nodded away.
90+2 min: Could that have been Kane’s fairytale moment? Barkley strides upfield and his attempted pass towards Rooney is only half-cleard to Kane, who thuds a low one first-time from 30 yards but it is dived upon by Buffon. That would have been...interesting.
90+2 min: Jagielka has to get in ahead of Vazquez though. Jagielka is my England Man Of The Match tonight, and nothing will sway me on that. The bubbly is off the ice.
90+1 min: This will probably finish 1-1 now. The game assumed a basketball-esque quality for six or seven minutes after that equaliser but things have calmed down now. Into three minutes of added time here.
89 min: David Wall lets rip at the Harry Kane circus...
“How long until Harry Kane gets a little sick of being patronised by every commentator and pundit. As Ryan Mason has often pointed out, he is hardly a naive, fresh-faced teen and has been around the loan circuit quite a lot, and the same is true of Kane. Arguably both were approaching their last opportunities to make it at the top level, at least for Spurs, without having to drop down a level and then work back up. You’d expect them to have some game understanding given all of that experiences in competitive matches.”
I reproduce this as, for the first time in a good while, we have a slight lull.
88 min: Here is Ryan Bertrand, coming on for Kieran Gibbs, who has had a decent second half but could have scored.
86 min: A combination of Jones and Bonucci thunders the corner behind. Verratti may have another go. Kane clears this one. And Townsend picks it up and carries the ball all the way up the field, squaring eventually towards Rooney....but Abate just gets there first!
Updated
85 min: But Immobile should put Italy ahead again! A lovely link-up with Antonelli and then, bursting through in a not-dissimilar position to Rooney’s chance just now, he uses his left foot to shoot across Hart put inches wide of the far post.
85 min: The tenor of England’s performance is so different now. As is the volume of the God Save The Queen-singing England fans. A game of this tempo all the way through would have been fun.
84 min: ....which Rooney swings in from the next, but Parolo clears and eventually the ball ends up back with Buffon.
83 min: We’re set for a good end to this now. England look fresh and full of running. And win a corner....
81 min: And now Buffon thwarts Rooney again! This is his best chance yet, as Rooney surges in on goal down the inside left from a long Gibbs pass and seems sure to score....but the veteran ‘keeper closes him down well and blocks his slide-rule right-footed effort with his legs!
Goal! Italy 1-1 England (Townsend 79)
How about THAT! A young Spurs sensation saves England, but it’s not *that* one. Townsend picks the ball up in a pocket of space 25 yards out, takes a touch forward and absolutely lashes it right-footed across Buffon, diving in vain to his right, and in! That was a superb finish from the substitute, who loves to shoot on sight and has proved it just eight minutes after coming on! England, on balance, deserve it as they have improved since the break.
Updated
78 min: England certainly look the more likely scorers....until Verratti releases Immobile, who is probably just offside, and he is stopped well by Jones as he looks to cut inside him. The corner results in Jones lashing over his own bar for another as Moretti glances a header across goal that everyone else misses. The second corner comes to nothing.
76 min: Italy have now made six changes, England five. The game hasn’t completely died though.
75 min: Rooney close again! Kane whips in a fine ball from the right and Rooney makes a clever run across the near post. The ball flicks just wide of the far post, and in fact it’s Ranocchia who gets the touch.
Then Ryan Mason comes on for his first cap, replacing Henderson.
72 min: I say that, but Rooney then has a chance for goal 48! A diagonal ball from Gibbs is missed by Chiellini, the ball goes over him and Rooney has a sight of 20 yards out with the ball sitting up temptingly. He drills the ball towards goal but Bonucci parries.
Then two more subs for Italy. Luca Antonelli replaces Darmian on the left and Chiellini is replaced by Torino’s Emiliano Moretti.
Updated
71 min: Townsend looks for Gibbs straightaway but Bonucci gets there first. Not too much happening just now.
70 min: Jones clatters Immobile just inside the Italian half and is booked. There’s a joke involving “Jones” and “Immobile” somewhere.
Now Delph is given the hook and on comes Andros Townsend.
69 min: Ray in Houston responds to Phil Sawyer’s earlier email with a trade secret about the art of the tackle...
“As a frustrated midfield play-maker turned defender, I used to revel in timing my run for a tackle to meet the ball moments before I ‘met’ the player. I was so much fun to let them think they had me beaten, and then wipe them out with a perfectly legal tackle that cleaned out ball and man in a comprehensive fashion.”
68 min: Valdifiori’s debut is now over; Marco Verratti, the outstanding PSG midfielder, comes on.
@NickAmes82 Doing my best to follow the MBM while stuck at work. As a Villa fan, I'm keen to know how Delph is playing. Any thoughts?
— Richie Lauridsen (@richielauridsen) March 31, 2015
Just as I pasted that in, Richie, he spooned a really awful ball out of play. Plenty of endeavour from Delph tonight but not much quality on the ball I’m afraid. But he’s far from the only one.
Updated
65 min: Oh, Ross Barkley...the ever-so-lively sub gets away and England briefly have a two-on-one. If he gets his head up and passes left then Rooney is in, but he doesn’t and instead goes for the box himself. Chiellini tackles, the chance disappears.
65 min: This is Palermo forward Vazquez’s first cap, by the way. He is Argentine-born and 26.
63 min: Barkley feeds Walker, who has time to cross down by the byline, but Ranocchia heads away a fairly average ball in.
62 min: The two attacking subs combine straightaway, Vazquez nearly giving Immobile a sight of goal with a lovely chested lay-off. The excellent Jagielka intervenes again.
Updated
61 min: Three Italy subs now. Abate replaces Florenzi at right wing-back; Franco Vazquez replaces Eder up top; Borussia Dortmund’s Ciro Immobile replaces Pelle up there too.
59 min: Free kick for England after a foul by Darmian but Ranocchia heads clear under the attentions of Rooney.
59 min: Craig McDonnell whispers, very quietly indeed...
“Chiellini doing an absolute job on Kane so far in this match. Maybe there are just no good centre backs in the Premier League anymore?”
Updated
58 min: England dominating the play for now and looking a bit smoother on the ball. Barkley almost finds Rooney but Ranocchia is there, and then Barkley again – heavily involved since coming on – spreads the play to Walker, who wins a throw.
56 min: Barkley has come on for Walcott, who has been a bit lost since Rooney went up front with Kane – and before that too, to be honest.
54 min: Chance for Gibbs! A lovely move, this, as Rooney combines beautifully with Kane on the edge of the area before prodding the ball for an unmarked Gibbs on the left of the area. He should do better than place an effort of little conviction into the side netting.
53 min: Harry Kane has his first real sight now, taking a ball popped into him by Carrick in his stride and shooting 15 yards out on the right of the area. It’s deflected not far wide of the near post for a corner, which Italy take some time to clear properly.
50 min: Vital intervention, not for the first time, from Jagielka as he stretches to divert away a delightful ball played with the outside of Soriano’s boot towards Eder.
Then a clear chance! Eder is in this time as Darmian beats Walcott and pings a ball into him, to the left of goal, and Hart has to save the one-on-one! Then Pelle, with a good sight of goal from the rebound, shoots wide! A let-off there.
Updated
49 min: Pelle is doing fairly well at chesting/heading/cushioning/laying off the early balls Italy play into him. It feels like the Pelle of early this season, and the very fact of his goal should back that up.
47 min: A Henderson corner is easily claimed by Buffon, who releases quickly to Chiellini. Kane fouls him. The rogue.
47 min: Some visuals might not be a bad idea to accompany this guff with, so what about our match gallery?
Peeeeeep! Second-half underway, c/o Messrs Rooney and Walcott.
Kane has a harmless shot at Buffon within seconds.
An England change at right-back – Kyle Walker comes on for Nathaniel Clyne. Planned, apparently.
@NickAmes82 Who's this Michael Carrick everyone keeps asking for? Is he related to the slow, sideways passer no-one wants playing for Eng?
— Tim Myles (@blueburn97) March 31, 2015
Would you like Carrick to cement his place?
In this evening’s other Prestige Friendly, the score is currently Holland 2 Spain 0 and Alan Smith can tell you more. And what of Israel v Belgium in Wales’ Euro 2016 group? It’s currently Israel 0-1 Belgium.
Phil Sawyer is strangely content:
“It may be unfashionable, but my word do I enjoy Italian defending. The joy of the tackle that draws the foul but not the card. The intervention just late enough to disrupt the attack and send the ball out of play. For me, it’s poetry in motion. Admittedly, this may be why many of my friends argue about football with me. They seem, for some strange reason, to prefer goals. I’ll always prefer the foot stuck in at just the right time to break things up.”
Keith Sanderson isn’t happy. Are you happy?
“There should barely be any need for Hart to hoof the ball up the pitch and straight back to a waiting opponent. Too many players pass the ball and stand still instead of moving to a position between their opponents. Just a staggering lack of basic football basics. And playing Phil Jones in midfield just beggars belief. A prime example of why we have so many foreign coaches in the Prem.”
Peter Oh says: “I don’t want to contribute to your coverage going to the dogs, but the preamble photo of the England shirts made me realise that ‘Kane 9’ has got a nice ring to it. So far today though, it’s been more bark than bite. Woof!”
I’m glad you think it hadn’t gone to the dogs already.
Half-time: Italy 1-0 England
Disjointed from England there really, and in a game of little goalmouth action Italy deserve the lead handed them by Pelle’s smart header. Wayne Rooney has hit the bar with a deflected effort but there isn’t really a great deal else to write home about.
45+1 min: Rooney is up front now with Kane....but is not involved as Gibbs wins a left-sided corner. Henderson puts in the inswinger but Soriano heads boomingly clear at the near post.
@NickAmes82 So, Phil Jones went in for an 'Eder.... Eh, eh?
— Patrick Body (@Patmybody) March 31, 2015
Eh?
44 min: Michael Carrick is coming on to replace Smalling, which means Jones to centre-back and presumably a sudden email drought from you lot.
43 min: Chris Smalling has a problem and is being ushered down the tunnel by physio Gary Lewin. Down to 10 for the moment. England have a free-kick in the meantime and it’s not a bad ball in by Henderson, but Frog heads away.
41 min: England are afforded another spell of possession, which threatens to become consequential when the ball reaches Gibbs on the left but his cross is blocked before it can reach the area.
39 min: Pelle almost gets another though, narrowly failing to put his head on a whipped right-sided cross from the impressive Florenzi.
39 min: Why hasn’t Harry Kane scored yet? It’s not fair.
38 min: Italy win another corner; it’s played in from the right but is beyond Chiellini. The ball then comes in from the other side and causes mild consternation but England get that away, too.
37 min: JR in Illinois has spotted a trend:
“How about that, Phil Jones has injured someone. So he’s halfway there. No game involving him is complete until he injures both an opponent and himself.”
36 min: Now Pelle is booked for needlessly fouling Jagielka as he strides upfield.
35 min: Rooney tries a rather ludicrous backheel to an invisible Walcott. England have responded reasonably well to going behind but look far from fluent all round.
Updated
I’ll take this answer:
@NickAmes82 @LuccadePaoli England can wear their full white kit because Italy have blue socks.
— geepiller (@geepiller) March 31, 2015
32 min:....which is eventually cleared and Italy counter, Gibbs fouling Valdifiori and taking a yellow card. Jones and Eder, meanwhile, clashed heads in that sequence and the medical staff are on.
31 min: Nearly a response as Kane almost plays Henderson through and Ranocchia has to stretch to cut the ball out. Then the same player gets in ahead of Walcott. Corner...
Goal! Italy 1-0 England (Pelle 29)
...the deadlock is broken! The corner seems to have evaded danger, running over to the left, but Chiellini of all people salvages things and swings in a right-footed cross from the left. Pelle meets it early and flicks a lovely, angled header across Hart and inside the far post for 1-0!
Updated
29 min: Then Valdifiori slids one through the inside-right channel for Pelle, who tries a first-time shot but is thwarted by Jagielka. From the corner....
27 min: Darmian breats Clyne all too easily in the air and finds Pelle, who cannot return to the ball to him. England break and Rooney plays a superb right-to-left pass to Walcott on the left edge of the area. He cuts inside but his shot is deflected by the Frog into Buffon’s hands.
Updated
26 min: Bonucci pings an accurate long pass to Soriano but Soriano is pulled up for handball, even though he did not handball it.
@NickAmes82 Sorry to be really dull Nick, but do you know why the teams are wearing the same coloured shorts?
— Lucca de Paoli (@LuccadePaoli) March 31, 2015
Go on then. Anyone?
23 min: That might energise England, who started this game slowly, a bit. The early ponderousness can probably be allowed for given the decidedly “experimental” nature of this lineup.
22 min: Then Buffon flaps another cross away from Kane, who may cause problems in the air here, and it comes out to Clyne. Clyne’s ball is met by Henderson but not cleanly, and it’s saved easily.
21 min: Onto the bar from Rooney! A patient passing move sees Kieran Gibbs sky up a cross to the far post, which Kane leaps high to meet. It comes back to Rooney, 18 yards out, and his first-time shot is deflected onto the woodwork! Better from England.
Updated
20 min: Florenzi puts in a nice cross from the right towards Darmian (who Giuseppe Cais has just reminded me also played in the Manaus game) but Clyne shields it sufficiently to win a free-kick.
18 min: There was room for Darmian there, though! The left wing-back gets in behind Clyne and can hare through towards goal! A shot might have been the best bet but he centres for Eder and Jagielka has to get in superbly to clear behind. From the corner, Chiellini glances wide.
17 min: Smalling steps out with the ball now and passes towards Rooney, but Valdifiori is first to the ball. Not much room to play, here.
15 min: Italy win a free-kick about 30 yards out and a bit to the left of goal. It’s eventually hit by Eder and forces the corner flag to duck for cover on the far side.
14 min: England now put together a patient move on the edge of the Italian box but Clyne’s pass for Kane is not well aimed and Chiellini is in sharply again – and this time cleanly.
12 min: Gibbs punts one in the vague direction of Kane but out of play. England haven’t really got started yet, it’s fair to say, although they do nearly spook Buffon into an error as he delays a clearance under pressure from Kane.
11 min: Parolo lets fly now and that’s the first shot of the game! A decent 25-yarder – Delph could have pressured him better – and Hart has to turn it over. He then punches Valdifiori’s corner away.
Updated
10 min: Rooney almost loses out to Parolo but comes away with the ball and spreads it right to Clyne, whose ball into the area towards a marauding Henderson is only just snuffed out.
8 min: Ranocchia’s Twitter handle is actually @23_Frog. There we go.
8 min: Lorenza Campana has something altogether more interesting for us –
“A bit of lingustic culture thrown your way...do you know Ranocchia means frog?”
No.
Updated
7 min: Valdifiori gets the better of Delph but telegraphs his pass forward. Fairly scrappy here so far.
6 min: Now Eder has a chance to feed Pelle on the break but the ball is played behind him and, rather than take it in his stride, Pelle has to knock back to Florenzi, who passes it out of play.
5 min: Pelle holds Jones off well and tries to slip Eder, his strike partner, through but it’s overhit and runs through to Hart.
3 min: Phil Jones is playing that mopping-up role in front of the back four, not that it’s rocket science to have guessed that. A bit of early possession here for both sides but no real forays into either area.
1 min: Early reducer from Chiellini on Kane – well more of a block really, but it’s a foul and Chiellini has “shown him he’s there”.
Updated
Kick-off!
Pelle and Soriano kick us off.
More talk about Phil Jones than Harry Kane or Wayne Rooney in your pre-match emails. Roy knows how to keep our minds fresh.
Lorcan Greene points out quite fairly that both midfields look a bit watered-down:
“I rather suspect that every English grumble about what is an almost apathetic midfield selection will be at least matched by one from Italy; Valdifiori, Parolo and Soriano as a trio sounds rather insipid to me when it is considered that Conte could feasibly have started Marco Verratti, menace of Stamford Bridge, and Antonio Candreva, who was a persistent threat in Manaus as I recall. Kane and particularly Walcott should also be buoyed by the selection of Andrea Ranocchia; I haven’t watched Inter in a while but he was an exceptionally lumbering centre back last time I checked.”
Not exactly a full house at Juventus’ home tonight, by the looks of it, but the anthems are getting a lusty belting-out.
There’s an international debut tonight for Italy’s Mirko Valdifiori, a midfielder who plays for unfashionable Empoli. He will be 29 three weeks today, so it’s nice to see him getting his chance.
Here they come! The teams are out....
Tactics maestros out there, what say you to John Davis’s prediction?
“Could the purported selection of Phil Jones in midfield actually be a revolutionary tactical gambit by Roy Hodgson - the false 8? He could drop into a back three, thus releasing the wing - backs to bomb on. Just think, in years to come we could be comparing Phil Jones tonight to Hidegkuti ripping England apart from midfield wearing 9 in 1953. Or perhaps not.”
Should have told you who England’s subs are! Roy can pick from:
Butland, Green, Cahill, Walker, Carrick, Townsend, Mason, Bertrand, Barkley.
Can England break Italy’s hex over them tonight? Crunch some numbers with George Arnett.
This just in from Al Camino:
“Just eaten elk and bear ravioli in a restaurant in front of the Kremlin and it’s made me feel invincible. What do you think we could give Wayne and the boys to instill that same level of confidence tonight?”
Crikey Al, be careful!! Was there any Harry Kane on the menu?
Updated
@NickAmes82 Harry Kane Harry Kane Harry Kane Harry Kane, Harry Kane Harry Kane Harry Kane Harry Kane Harry Kane. Harry Kane Harry Kane?
— JR Flanders (@jrobertflanders) March 31, 2015
Well, quite.
And Graeme Arthur asks what I rather suspect a lot of people are asking:
“Far be it from me to query the gaffer’s selection but why is Jones starting in midfield? Are there no genuine midfielders in the country who could play in that position? I have a liking for Mark Noble at West Ham but they’re my team so I’d be interested in who else might be a possibility.”
It’s a difficult one. Michael Carrick is one; Jack Wilshere, if fit, another. Although in Wilshere’s case what you gain in ball recycling is possibly offset by issues relating to defensive discipline.
Updated
Patrick Stone gets the emails rolling:
“While it’s great to see Harry Kane starting, the England team is entirely underwhelming elsewhere. No real width and very little creativity in midfield. Kane can’t do it all by himself [cue Harry Kane hat-trick in the first 15 minutes…].”
That midfield certainly looks rather narrow. Although perhaps we can expect to see Gibbs and Clyne, both of whom enjoy bombing on, fairly high up the field when England attack.
More on this England selection from Danny Taylor:
England need to take better care of the ball and, on that front, it is possibly a surprise that Roy Hodgson seems to prefer the idea of starting with Phil Jones ahead of Michael Carrick as the holding player in a midfield diamond. Equally, most people might have anticipated Hodgson wanting to explore how well Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane would link up together as a new-look striker partnership.
Hodgson’s preference appears to be for Rooney to operate in a more withdrawn role, at the forward tip of the diamond, with Theo Walcott bringing some speed and directness to attack alongside Kane. That selection might indicate England’s manager has a few reservations about a Rooney-Kane double act.
The Italy team
Italy: Buffon; Ranocchia, Bonucci, Chiellini; Darmian, Parolo, Florenzi, Valdifiori, Soriano; Pelle, Eder.
Graziano Pelle is in! Only Giorgio Chiellini and Matteo Darmian, of these players, were in action during that game in Manaus.
Updated
The England team
England: Hart; Clyne, Smalling, Jagielka, Gibbs; Jones,
Delph, Henderson, Rooney; Kane, Walcott.
There you go. Rooney at the top of the midfield, Phil Jones at the bottom of it. HARRY KANE STARTS and nothing else matters Theo Walcott partners him up top.
Updated
Welcome to Harry Kane's Italian Job!
Ok, we’ve got that out of that out of the way. Kane rhymes with Caine and he’s going to do a job in Italy, just like in the film. That’s the joke, there, and you can have that one.
Welcome then to Italy v Harry Kane + 10 (as if he’ll need them!), which brings the perpetuation of an 82-year football rivalry and hopefully a lot more besides, with both teams no doubt eager to litmus-test things with under 15 months to go until they – presumably – do battle in France. It is just nine and a half months since they met in Manaus, Italy winning that one but England producing enough of interest to suggest something other than the grisly end that both teams eventually met, but things have already moved on a fair bit for both sides and there is plenty of reason for both to produce a show tonight.
England are flying! Seven wins in a row! Well, five of those came in Group E of the qualifiers but you can only beat what is in front of you and Roy Hodgson’s team have done that well enough of late, seeming to find a fairly pleasing balance between energy and circumspection in midfield and generally posing a more direct, forceful forward threat too.
Italy....aren’t! Not at the moment, and Antonio Conte needs that to change soon. They may not have lost since the World Cup either, but they were held 2-2 in Bulgaria on Saturday and only squeezed past Malta, Azerbaijan and Albania by one goal apiece in matches played late last year. Cutting edge has been at a premium and there has been a slightly unseemly debate about their oriundi – foreign-born call-ups – too. One of them, Sampdoria’s Eder, equalised in Sofia and further heroics in this one would do him little harm. Italy could do with a positive performance here, for sure.
And for a sub-plot that would quickly become a super-plot if it bore out, what about this: a brace for Wayne Rooney would bring him level with Bobby Charlton as England’s all-time leading goalscorer. He might need to be at his rombustuous best, because – as we’ll see in a second - he’s starting in midfield. Still – eat that, Harry.
Let’s see which of our heroes turns it on tonight, anyway. Kick-off is at 7.45pm UK time, so get your emails and tweets flooding in.
Nick will be here shortly.
