England drop points for first time in Euro 2024 qualifying group as Kyle Walker’s first EVER Three Lions goal cancels out Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener
You could argue that England stuttered here in Poland when they took on Ukraine, that there had been a step backwards from the slick, stylish football played in Qatar and beyond. You could dissect this performance and wonder why a team made up of some of the best young players in world football never quite hits the mark.
But that would almost miss the point, and not just because England’s qualification for Euro 2024 is more or less guaranteed by victories over Italy and Ukraine last season.
No, it was because on Saturday evening in Wroclaw, southern Poland, more than three hundred miles from the border where war is a daily act of endurance, there would be a call for a nation that sticks to rules. based democracies in an existential struggle.
This was a bravura performance from Ukraine, which was greeted with joy at the final whistle. It was both a moment of escapism and an act of defiance to be here, play so well and just show the world the fact that Ukraine exists and continues to fight.
Being a competitive sport, England would have had no problem spoiling that mood. Harry Kane wondered if the full four minutes had been played. Still, it would have seemed rude to win. And in reality, England didn’t deserve that.
The match was played in front of a good-natured, partisan crowd at the Tarczyński Arena in Wroclaw, southwestern Poland.
Ukrainian talisman Oleksandr Zinchenko (center) scored the opening goal after 26 minutes after a brilliant counter-attack
Arsenal star and national talisman Zinchenko held his hand to his ear and smiled into the cameras before showing a love heart
There were angry recriminations in the English defense after they allowed the hosts to score with their first shot of the match
As a sense of political theater, there can’t have been many football matches like this in recent history.
More than 40,000 Ukrainian exiles filled this stadium, the late summer evening sun providing appropriate light for the glorious color show of thousands of yellow and blue flags, raised defiantly as the roar of the solemn Ukrainian national anthem filled the stadium.
That was nothing compared to the cacophony of noise that greeted every Ukrainian attack. Not that there were many early on, as Ukraine allowed 84 percent of the ball to England.
And despite that – for all their domination, England looked very ponderous, going back and forth without creating a decent chance – the patriotic fervor was increased tenfold when Oleksandr Zinchenko opened the scoring.
As the Arsenal player joked in front of the TV camera, his smile as wide as physically possible, you couldn’t help but think of the fear he has expressed, the repressed guilt of knowing he is better for his country then the excellent. international ambassador that he is, rather than on the front lines. This was a moment he deserved.
It seemed banal to analyze it in football terms, yet there was much to be admonished for England. Jordan Henderson seemed to leave enough space for the field ball to be played to Viktor Tsyhankov.
James Maddison was absent, meaning Ben Chilwell looked foolish and chased backwards as Tsygankov slid the ball to Yukhym Konoplia. The full back cut him back and neither Declan Rice, who missed him, nor Harry Maguire and Marc Guehi, who stood motionless next to each other, could get him out.
To top it all off, no one followed Zinchenko, who nevertheless finished well. Still, it was a matter of putting the champagne on ice and canceling the open-top bus tour: England think they can win the European Championship. Not so, they can’t.
They responded rattled. Kane had dropped deeper and deeper throughout the half, looking for some time and space on the ball. Sometimes that can be frustrating, such as when he fed Henderson, who had a chance and opted to pass when a natural finisher was needed in that position. But after 42 minutes it all worked out.
Kane picked up the ball so deep that there were only two defenders behind him, considered his options and, like a modern-day David Beckham, threw a pass with exquisite accuracy into the path of Kyle Walker.
The full-back, who had never scored for England before, still had a lot of work to do and used his first touch to direct the ball towards goal. Then, with the confidence of an experienced finisher, he gave keeper Bushchan the eye as he pretended to go one way before poking the ball into him in the opposite direction.
It was a sublime goal. And England looked at it a bit more in the second half. This was possession on purpose rather than the dismal sideways passing of the first half.
Maguire headed over from a well-worked free-kick and should have done better when Maddison’s corner landed at his feet, Bukayo Saka did his trademark cut-back and then smashed a shot onto the crossbar from a brilliant fingertip save from Bushchan.
Yet Gareth Southgate withdrew Maddison and Jude Bellingham after 65 minutes. The latter had all been honest intentions with no real impact. This was certainly not the dominant performance that Real Madrid fans had become accustomed to in recent weeks.
Phil Foden was trusted to play centrally, while Southgate generally preferred him out wide and Marcus Rashford came on. Kane was buzzing everywhere, Declan Rice was driving in midfield. Rashford looked dangerous. However, as the half progressed, the chances diminished.
The scrap of a free kick saw Maguire slide past keeper Bushchan in the 83rd minute in an attempt to cross from close range. The maximum excitement came from the standing ovation Zinchenko received when he came out.
And of course the burst of noise at the final whistle. Ukraine had made its point. And so much more.
Home fans erupted with joy after Zinchenko found the net against the run of play to give Serhiy Rebrov’s men the lead in Poland
Manchester City defender Kyle Walker (right) scored England’s equalizer just four minutes before half-time in Wroclaw
It was the 33-year-old’s first goal at international level in his 77 caps and he celebrated wildly with a roar and a fist pump.
He was heckled by teammates after becoming the second-oldest player after Jimmy Moore to score his first goal for England