Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker all completed 90 minutes in England’s 2-1 win against Turkey at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. All five were in Roy Hodgson’s 26-man provisional squad and look likely to be on the plane to France in a few weeks time.
Kane and Alli partnership continues to shine
Roy Hodgson chose to start the game in a 4-3-3 formation, which benefitted the Tottenham striker Kane and his understanding with Alli and this was shown for the first goal. Kane opened the scoring within three minutes after linking up with Dele Alli, while admittedly offside Kane took advantage of Alli’s quick footwork and calmly slotted the ball into the net.
Kane however went on to miss a penalty in the second half, but was rescued by a late Jamie Vardy strike to seal the win. Kane’s penalty miss was England’s first since Frank Lampards in Japan in May 2010 (excluding shootouts). Even with the penalty miss Kane looked like the biggest threat on the pitch and his link up play with fellow striker Jamie Vardy could prove to be a dangerous partnership.
Rose Man of the Match as Spurs break records
The game also saw Danny Rose win Man of the Match after catching the eye of ex-Spur Glenn Hoddle. Throughout the game Rose raided forward and threatened the Turkish defence, while also displaying a solid defensive performance.
The inclusion of five Tottenham players matched a club record. The previous time Tottenham had five players on the pitch was in a friendly against Uruguay in 2006. The team featured Paul Robinson, Michael Carrick, Ledley King, Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe and finished in a 2-1 win.
England will host Australia at the Stadium of Light on the 27th of May, before a final warm up game on the 2nd of June, at Wembley, against Portugal. Hodgson will have to submit his final 23-man squad for the competition by the 31st of May.