UKRAINE 1-1 ENGLAND: England lost their perfect record in Euro 2024 qualifying, but manager Gareth Southgate took positives from his team’s response against Ukraine
Gareth Southgate believes England took another giant stride in their bid for Euro glory after Kyle Walker rescued a point in Poland.
The Three Lions remain on course to qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany despite seeing their perfect Group C campaign halted by a draw against a Ukraine team driven by a desire to give their worn-torn country some comfort. Ukraine shocked the visitors when Arsenal ‘s Oleksandr Zinchenko fired them into a 26th-minute lead – but Walker scored his first international goal in his 77th appearance for England to maintain their unbeaten run.
Southgate admitted his team were below par, but was delighted by their refusal to be beaten – and next up is Italy at Wembley in November. Southgate said: “It’s a very important point for us and we’ve now played the two best ranked teams away from home and we’ve got four points from those two games.
“The only way to learn and grow as a team is to have those sorts of experiences. To go behind in a game like that is a challenge, but we stayed calm.