England cruise to 3-0 friendly victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina
England began their European Championship preparations with a 3-0 win over non-qualifiers Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday at St James' Park, thanks to goals from Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and captain Harry Kane.
After a slow first half, England picked up the pace, and Palmer, who has scored nine penalties for Chelsea this season, broke the deadlock in the 60th minute from the spot after Ezri Konsa was pulled down in the box.
"It's a great feeling to get my first England goal," Palmer told Channel 4, who was interviewed alongside Kane, a late-game substitute.
"Of course (Kane) would have taken it if he had been on the pitch," a grinning Palmer added.
Liverpool's Alexander-Arnold, one of the bright spots on the night, doubled his team's lead in the 85th minute with his third goal for England, firing home from a tight angle after a beautiful pass from Manchester City's Jack Grealish.
Bayern Munich striker Kane, who has 12 goals in his last 12 international appearances, scored one of the simplest goals of his career four minutes later, poking the ball in from close range after Jarrod Bowen's shot hit Konsa in a scramble in front of goal.
"I'm feeling good," said Kane, who had not played for Bayern since May 8 due to an ongoing back issue. "A lot of the end of season was precaution. It was a good chance to get a good break at the end of the season. I feel fine."
"It's about getting minutes. I'm not someone who takes too long to get sharp."
Several key players, including midfielder Jude Bellingham, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid on Saturday, were absent, but the match was primarily about manager Gareth Southgate deciding which seven players to cut before Friday's deadline for their 26-man roster.
He liked what he saw for the majority of Monday's game.
"We had players that needed minutes and we needed a competitive game," Southgate said. "The opposition was dogged so we had to be patient and keep probing - we felt our quality would tell."
"There was some good individual performances and hopefully we have come through with no issues."
The second half saved what appeared to be a disappointing night for the sold-out crowd at St James' Park, England's first game away from Wembley in a year.
With a talented squad and a second-place finish at the last Euros, the Three Lions carry high expectations to Germany.
Southgate now has a difficult task in selecting his squad, but several players, including Alexander-Arnold, Eberechi Eze, Conor Gallagher, and Palmer, stood out on Monday.
The manager's job is made more difficult by the fact that Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, and Anthony Gordon are recovering from injuries and were unavailable on Monday, while Southgate rested Bukayo Saka and John Stones.
Six of England's starting 11 had fewer than ten caps entering Monday's match.
England's final friendly against Iceland takes place on Friday at Wembley Stadium before they depart for Germany.
They play Serbia in their first Group C match on June 16 in Gelsenkirchen.
SportsLigue