Harry Kane Lifts England Past New Zealand in World Cup Tune-Up
- Calum Ewing
- 2 minutes ago
- 4 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
On a humid day at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida, the England National team played two strong halves with two completely different lineups to defeat New Zealand 1-0 in a World Cup tuneup Saturday afternoon. 25,889 fans, mostly sporting England attire, presented on the world stage a genuine American buzz for the World Cup.
England, amid pitch concerns, ran out a strong starting lineup backed by regulars like Jordan Pickford, Guehi and Stones as the centerback pair, Marcus Rashford, and Harry Kane up front. Mainoo and Jordan Henderson showed the rotation of the squad in midfield, Morgan Rodgers and Ollie Watkins supported Kane in the attack, and Djed Spence and Jarrell Quansah took up the fullback spots.
New Zealand’s lineup was also strong, with notorious Premier League striker Chris Wood captaining the side and internet sensation Tim Payne in defense.
Just under 10 minutes into the match, after Engalnd had dominated possession from kickoff, they had their first chance when a header just inside the six-yard box was saved by the Kiwis’ Max Crocombe in goal before finally being cleared. Two minutes later, New Zealand, who are likely to focus on the counter-attack during the World Cup, were exploiting space left in behind by Jarrell Quansah at right back. It was the third opportunity on the counter that led to an end product, with Sarpreet Singh receiving the ball inside the 18, only to rush his effort and see it go harmlessly wide.
In the 14th minute, Ollie Watkins had a golden opportunity to score after a quick free kick saw him played over the top and through on goal 1v1, yet he pulled his chance egregiously wide left. The next few 10 minutes saw a flurry of chances for the Three Lions, including a Harry Kane effort from the top of the box saved by a diving Crocombe in the 17th minute and a Rashford strike in the 19th minute being critically blocked by a sliding Finn Surman inside the 18. The follow-up cross was incredibly dangerous, but just missed Kobbie Mainoo and flew through the 6-yard box.
Twenty seven minutes had gone before New Zealand created their best chance of the first half. Matt Garbett broke forward, driving through the midfield and cutting inside from left to right once he reached the top of the box. Pulling an effort from there, the well-hit ball forced a strong diving save from Jordan Pickford to his left-hand side.
Three minutes later, it was England that would start to exploit the counter attack when Djed Spence was played into loads of space on the left and found an England player in the box. The ball was laid it off to Kobbie Mainoo at the top of the 18, but his effort intended for the top right corner went over. Two minutes later, England had another chance when Ollie Watkins received a ball on the right while on the counter and hit a low ball across the box to Marcus Rashford. However, his cross was cut off by the diving Crocombe.
The 34th minute saw England’s best chance of the match to that point, as Marcus Rashford worked skillfully on the left side to float a back-post cross to Harry Kane. Kane’s header was going to the roof of the net, but it was masterfully saved by one outstretched hand from the jumping Crocombe.
After the save, both teams had a bit of a quiet spell until Harry Kane opened the scoring in stoppage time. A brilliant cross from Djed Spence on the left side floated towards an unmarked Kane in the box, and England’s number 9 rose high to flick the ball across his body and head it into the bottom right corner for the 1-0 lead before the whistle singled halftime.
The first chance in the second half came in the 49th minute, after the initial cross from an England corner was hit high into the air. As the ball fell, Crocombe went up for the punch but failed to reach it amid the crowd of red and white shirts, instead falling forward as Dan Burn made contact for a header that went just wide right of the open goal.
The next ten minutes were completely controlled by England, carrying momentum over from the first half with much better movement in the midfield, mainly between Jude Bellingham and Nico O’Reilly (usual left back for Manchester City). They were supported by strong off-ball movement and passing sequences ignited by Anthony Gordon. This movement created an opportunity for Jude Bellingham to play a splitting ball into Ivan Toney in the 18 around the 60th minute, and Toney was positioned well in front of his defender to end up drawing a foul for a stonewall penalty. However, the penalty was called back for Toney being in an initial offside position.
There wasn’t much else in terms of chances in front of goal until second half stoppage time, when Ivan Toney (called back offside again) seemed to completely whiff an unmarked tap-in in front of goal after a cross from the right-hand side. However, that didn’t mean England fans weren’t pleased, as the Three Lions had played entertaining football and comfortably handled lesser opposition to build towards World Cup action on June 17.
Next up, England will face Costa Rica in a friendly in Orlando on June 10, while New Zealand will wait until June 15 to play Iran in World Cup Group G action.
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