Wembley was buzzing with a peculiar blend of expectation and anxiety on Monday night. This was not just any friendly; it was the final curtain call be...
Wembley was buzzing with a peculiar blend of expectation and anxiety on Monday night. This was not just any friendly; it was the final curtain call before the grand stage in Qatar. Against a Costa Rican side happy to sit deep and frustrate, Gareth Southgate needed a spark. Step forward, Anthony Gordon.The young man from Newcastle has been knocking on the door for a while, and against the Ticos, he didn't just knock it down; he kicked it clean off its hinges. Playing with the fearless verve of a lad who knows his opportunity might be fleeting, Gordon terrorised the Costa Rican fullbacks. His movement off the ball was a constant headache for their low block, and his first touch in tight spaces was a lesson in composure. Was this the performance that cements his place on the plane England's build up play in the first half had been a touch pedestrian, that old familiar frustration of sideways passing against a packed defence. But Gordon's drive changed the tempo. He picked up pockets of space, ran straight at the heart of the defence, and linked play with a cleverness that belies his years. The 3. 0 scoreline flattered the visitors a bit, to be honest; it could have been five. Southgate will have been purring at the clinical finishing when the chances finally arrived, a stark contrast to some recent outings where that golden touch went missing.Look, friendlies are funny old things. You can read too much into them or not enough. But what you can't ignore is a player who demands the ball, makes things happen, and looks like he belongs. For too long, England have lacked a bit of chaos in their final third, a player who might try something daft but also something brilliant. Gordon injected that anarchy. If this is a sign of things to come, then the Three Lions might just have found the different gear they needed to avoid another case of squeaky bum time when the real business starts.For a team that has often been accused of being too safe, too predictable, this was a jolt of pure electricity. The system worked, the substitutes added energy, and the clean sheet was a welcome bonus. But the real story from this final rehearsal, the one that will have fans dreaming, is the sight of that number 11 shirt causing absolute havoc. Qatar, are you watching
