Today I'm going back just 12 months to this time last year and the Friendly International between England and Romania which served as England's final warm-up game ahead of the delayed Euro 2020 tournament. The game was played at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium because Wembley had been handed over to UEFA so that they could get on with preparing the stadium for the tournament. For the most part, such preparations involved putting up branding and logos and readying the various sponsor-approved sales concessions. Certainly, and with the benefit of hindsight, UEFA could have spent a bit more time readying the stadium for the safety and security of the fans rather than just looking after their revenue streams.
As can be seen from the ticket (there was no programme produced for this fixture), the country was just emerging from the shadow of Covid19 and so all attendees were required to provide evidence of a negative lateral flow test irrespective of whether they had had both vaccinations. Additionally we were also expected to wear a face mask at all times throughout the game, even though it was played outdoors where the risks were supposed to be lower. I would say that very few did so in this "Test Event" but there seemed to be little attempt at enforcement inside the stadium on the day and no repercussions afterwards (unless people contracted Covid19 of course!). The capacity of the Riverside Stadium was certainly restricted due to Covid19 however with the official attendance being just 7,000
Today's featured game was England's 1014th International ever and there were a number of other interesting facts about the fixture. The game was England's 12th ever game on the 6th June but this was the first ever home game on that day. Two of the players had a fine footballing heritage: Jack Grealish's great grandfather, Billy Garrety, had played for England in 1903 and Romanian substitute Ianis Hagi of Rangers is the son of "the Maradona of the Carpathians" Georghe Hagi. England had last won eight Friendlies in a row in 1986 (the record is 12) and the game would provide England with seven Friendly clean sheets in a row for the first time ever. Finally, prior to the game, Romania were one of only six International sides who had won more times against England than England had beaten them but, by the final whistle in this game, that record was no more.
Confusingly, England played the game in an insipid blue third choice kit whilst Romania wore the all white that is more traditionally associated with England at home. Why the two sides couldn't have worn their first choice kits I do not know but I'd hazard a guess that it has something to do with shirt sales.
England boss Gareth Southgate used the opportunity to give a run out to a number of squad and fringe players before making his final selection for the forthcoming Euros. The game marked the debut of England's goalkeeper Sam Johnstone of West Bromwich Albion, the 1262nd player to appear for England. Johnstone had a fine game and well deserved his clean sheet following a couple of jaw dropping saves. Former York City apprentice Ben Godfrey, now of Everton was making his second and, so far, last appearance for the Three Lions. Soon to be Arsenal defender Ben White of Brighton & Hove Albion and formerly a loanee at both Newport County and Leeds United was also making only his second appearance and substitutes Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa and Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund were making only their third and fourth appearances for England respectively.
The most capped starter on the day was the less-than-ancient Marcus Rashford (40 caps and top scorer with 11 goals at the start of play) and it was Rashford that scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the 68th minute following a foul on substitute Jack Grealish who had only been on the field for about a minute. In truth, England should have had a second when they were awarded another penalty in the 78th minute after a foul by former Spurs player Vlad Chiriches on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Sadly the spot kick was squandered by substitute Jordan Henderson who had pulled rank on Dominic Calvert-Lewin to take the penalty and then made a mess of it. Henderson had never scored for England up to that point in 59 appearances and remained that way.
England's next game was against Croatia in their Euro 2020 opener a week later and they went on a run that would take them to the Final of the European Championships for the first time ever. Manager Gareth Southgate has now managed England to a World Cup Semi-Finals in 2018 and to the 2020 Euro Final. Surely next in the sequence had to be victory in the 2022 World Cup Final? Doesn't it?
CRB Match No. 2429
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