England came out as 6-0 winners in a behind-closed-doors friendly match against American side Miami FC. Thomas Tuchel arranged the game for less than 24 hours after the win against Costa Rica to increase minutes for members of his squad.
The Daily Mail reports that Ivan Toney scored a hat-trick, with one impressive long-range strike. Jordan Henderson, Ethan Nwaneri and Rio Ngumoha are also reported to be on the scoresheet, with Ngumoha’s goal said to be a strike from distance.
Among those who impressed are Toney, Marc Guehi and Kobbie Mainoo. It was also said that there were no injuries reported during the game, in positive news ahead of the group stage kicking off.
Speaking earlier in the week, Tuchel explained how the match would work.
“It will be a match according to our rules,” he said. “It will not be 90 minutes, maybe 60 minutes, maybe 2 x 30 or 2 x 25. It is to get some minutes into the legs of players who didn’t get minutes against Costa Rica.”
The four young players in Ngumoha, Nwaneri, Alex Scott and Josh King, who have all been training with the squad but will not be involved in the World Cup are all said to have played in the match. All will leave the camp this weekend before England make their way to their base in Kansas City.
Goals from both Watkins and Toney in the two games will be good news for England amid talk of an over-reliance on captain Harry Kane to get on the scoresheet. Should the other strikers go into the opener full of confidence, then the team will hope that it isn’t an issue throughout the tournament.
The World Cup officially kicked off in Mexico on Thursday night as the host nation came out as 2-0 winners over South Africa. England have to wait until Wednesday to start their tournament, when they take on Croatia in Dallas (9pm kick-off).
They then face Ghana on June 23 at the Boston Stadium (9pm). The Three Lions finish off the group stage against Panama on June 27 (10pm) at the New York Jersey Stadium.