Here are the ratings for the England players against Hungary, on a night when the trials of a testing season seemed to catch up with them.
JORDAN PICKFORD
Readers of a certain age may understand it as ‘the Championship Manager Effect’ – it’s never a good sign when your best player of the season is your goalkeeper, because it usually means they’ve had more to do than usual. Jordan Pickford has always had an element of the unexpected about him, but his form was good enough to keep a wretched Everton team in the Premier League. No chance for the penalty kick against Hungary, which was just about perfectly placed past him. Beat a shot out with nine minutes to play which fell to the feet of Schafer, 10 yards out and with the goal gaping in front of him, who blazed the ball over the crossbar when a little more composure would have put the result beyond England’s reach with time to spare.
KYLE WALKER
Kyle Walker had a very quiet evening until 12 minutes into the second half, when we were treated to an example of the composure that gets trained into players at big clubs. A cross from the Hungarian right dropped in a difficult position, five yards from goal, with Walker facing his goalkeeper, and with an opposing forward breathing down his neck. He might have whacked the ball wide for another corner. He might have hacked the ball past Pickford while his goalkeeper stood stock-still and with a look of astonishment on his face. But no. Instead, he played a little cushioned header downward, as cool as you like.
JAMES JUSTIN
Something of a surprise debut for the Leicester defender, but he settled quickly with some nice touches and a surging run into the Hungarian penalty area followed by a low cross that tested the goalkeeper. He went down for a couple of minutes midway through the half, and considering that he was out for 11 months following a cruciate ligament rupture in February 2021 it probably wasn’t that surprising that he was withdrawn for Bukayo…
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