Sporting Life
England trudge off the pitch after defeat to the Czech Republic in Prague
England trudge off the pitch after defeat to the Czech Republic in Prague

Czech Republic 2-1 England: Harry Kane says Euro 2020 qualifier defeat a wake-up call for Gareth Southgate's side

By Paul Higham
Football
Sat October 12, 2019 · 5y ago

Harry Kane and Gareth Southgate felt England got what they deserved in Prague but hope that defeat can be a wake-up call to the squad.

England started brightly but were second best for most of the game as they lost a qualification game for the first time in a decade as the Czech Republic drew level on points with them in Group A.

A win would have put England through to the Euro 2020 finals next summer, but they must try again on Monday in Bulgaria and they'll have to fix a host of problems judging on the performance.

Attack, defence and midfield all had their problems, and the cohesion throughout the team was badly missing from start to finish - and that will be as much of a worry as the sloppy mistakes that cost both goals.

Captain Kane admitted England deserved to lose after being sloppy both at the back and up front.

"We went ahead early, it was the perfect start to an away game," he told ITV. "But after that we were sloppy with the ball. They obviously scored not long after and we didn't move it as quickly as we normally do.

"We weren't fighting, we weren't pressing as much as we normally do. In the second half (we were) a little bit better, we had a couple of chances to put the game to bed and we didn't."

Kane knows the defeat piles on the pressure for Monday as England go to Bulgaria.

"Every away game in Europe is difficult," he said. "They had the crowd behind them, maybe the pitch isn't as great and as easy to play on. But there's no excuse, we've played in these games before and we have to do better than tonight.

"It's a bit of a wake-up call, of course we're still in a good position so there's no need to panic. We obviously have to win the game on Monday but, for sure, we've still got stuff to work on."

Southgate accepts defeat

Southgate also admitted England didn't do enough, and he'll have to think about his formation for Bulgaria after starting with a 4-2-3-1 in Prague but going back to a 4-3-3 at half time.

"Tonight we didn't do enough to win the game," the manager told ITV.

"Our performance wasn't good enough, simple as that. We probably should have got a draw out of it, but in the end the goal we conceded was typical of the chances we gave away throughout the night.

"There are things we can look back on, but collectively we have to accept that there weren't enough good performances.

"I thought we started the second half a lot better, (we were) a lot more of a threat. We had chances, good chances to win the game. But we conceded too many poor chances and we gave the ball away too many times."

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