LONDON, March 24: Harry Kane become England’s outright record goalscorer as the Three Lions secured a first away win over Italy in almost 62 years with a 2-1 Euro 2024 qualifying victory.
In a repeat of a Euro 2020 final that was won by the Azzurri, Gareth Southgate’s side gained a measure of revenge in their Group C opener at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday.
Declan Rice opened the scoring and Kane deservedly doubled England’s lead with his 54th goal for his country from the penalty spot, breaking the record he shared with Wayne Rooney.
The Argentina-born Mateo Retegui reduced the deficit with a debut strike but Italy suffered their first home loss to England since June 1961 and saw a run of 40 European Championship qualifying matches without defeat come to a halt in Naples despite Luke Shaw’s red card in the 80th minute. There was a touching pre-match tribute to the late Gianluca Vialli before England quickly stamped their authority on the game, the alert Rice firing home left-footed from inside the box 13 minutes in after Kane’s shot was blocked.
England were dominant and Kane made history to double their lead late in the first half, calmly sending Donnarumma the wrong way from the spot following a VAR check for a Giovanni Di Lorenzo handball.
Jack Grealish sliced wide when he ought to have added a third goal moments later at the end of another blistering Three Lions attack.
Italy looked like a different side after the break and Retegui controlled a clever reverse pass from Lorenzo Pellegrini before beating Jordan Pickford with a clinical right-foot finish 11 minutes into the second half.
Roberto Mancini’s side continued to put England under pressure and Shaw was given his marching orders for upending Retegui just a couple of minutes after he had been booked for time-wasting.
Italy were unable to salvage a point, though, as England dug in to see out a hard-earned victory in a great start to their qualifying campaign.
CR7 brace
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated becoming the most-capped men’s player of all time with a double as Portugal thrashed Liechtenstein 4-0 in Roberto Martinez’s first game.
Ronaldo scored just once at last year’s World Cup and there had been doubts over whether he would return for Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualification campaign.
But having been named as captain in Martinez’s starting XI for Thursday’s match at Estadio Jose Alvalade, Ronaldo scored twice in the space of 12 minutes — a cool penalty followed by a wicked free-kick — to help cap an emphatic win and mark his record appearance in style.
Ronaldo’s goals followed strikes from Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva as Portugal got off to the simplest of starts in Group J. Liechtenstein’s resistance lasted just eight minutes. The visitors failed to clear their lines following Bruno Fernandes’ corner and Cancelo’s deflected strike from the edge of the area squirmed under Benjamin Buchel.
Ronaldo squandered two golden opportunities to extend Portugal’s lead, firing over when one-on-one with Buchel before sending a free header wide.
Portugal’s wait for a second ended 68 seconds after the restart, Silva on hand to tuck home after a cross was blocked into his path, and Ronaldo had his goal four minutes later.
Jens Hofer clumsily felled Cancelo, with Ronaldo drilling the resultant penalty into the bottom-left corner.
The offside flag cut Ronaldo’s celebrations short when he prodded in from close range but a superb 63rd-minute free-kick had too much power on it for Buchel.
There was no hat-trick for Ronaldo, who made way in the 78th minute, with the job done for new boss Martinez.
Poignant at Parken
There was a sense of poignancy when Denmark and Finland met for their opening Group H qualifier at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.
The last time the teams met was at Euro 2020 and it was the game and same venue when Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen collapsed with cardiac arrest.Nearly two years later, Denmark won 3-1 thanks to a hat trick from striker Rasmus Hojlund in his first start for his country.Slovenia beat Kazakhstan 2-1 and Northern Ireland defeated San Marino 2-0. (Agencies)
