Southgate will be keen to ease him back into things, shown by leaving him out against Denmark, but the Liverpool skipper’s experience, leadership and composure on the ball will be vital next summer. Southgate and his players had spent the previous night discussing the more earthbound issue of confidence versus arrogance, having felt England often froze faced with the biggest matches. How could anyone take the FA, the England manager, or his team, seriously after that? The midfielder insists he is ready to get “back to business” for his country but how much did leading his club on such a draining night really take out of his mental reserves? Swansea has sold Fernando Llorente to Tottenham and the Premier League club replaced the striker by re-signing Wilfried Bony from Manchester City. Llorente scored 15 goals in 33 league appearances last season for Swansea. The 32-year-old Llorente has signed a two-year contract at Tottenham where he will link up with harry kane replica jersey Kane, last season’s top scorer in the league. Sanches won the Young Player of the Tournament award at the European Championship last year after helping Portugal win its first major soccer title.
It would, though, take a major showing to upset the agenda at this stage and England will be hoping Costa Rica do not work their chosen goalkeeper that much. 13 – Billy Wright holds the record for most appearances against Scotland with 13 between 1947 and 1959. The former England captain won eight, drew three and lost just twice. The FA could not sack a manager three matches into his tenure, having lost the last one a solitary game into the campaign. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was ousted to the substitutes’ bench at Stamford Bridge last season after Thibaut Courtois’ arrival, and looks set for a switch to Arsenal. Dorset Police said “you’ll have twice as many points (on the driving license) as Arsenal if we catch you doing it at the wheel.” On a similar theme, Thames Valley Police said drivers will “end up with more points than Arsenal” if they get caught using their phones. PSG had to leave him out of its Champions League squad for a match against Arsenal in London last season because he was refused entry because of the ongoing case.
Bony is back at Swansea after failing to make an impact since joining Manchester City in January 2015. The Ivory Coast forward spent last season on loan at Stoke. England are back at Elland Road after a 16-year absence, and playing away from Wembley for the first time since their pre-Euro 2016 fixtures took them to the home grounds of Manchester City and Sunderland. But maybe super clubs are now so chock full of superstars that the window of opportunity for teen prodigies grows ever smaller? Chelsea was yet to announce the 25-year-old Zappacosta’s move as the summer transfer window closed. He was signed as a replacement for N’Golo Kante – who joined Chelsea – but was hindered by injury and made only four league appearances as Leicester struggled. Torino signed fullback Cristian Ansaldi from Inter Milan as a replacement for Zappacosta. Defender Davide Zappacosta joined from Torino on Thursday ahead of Drinkwater’s deal being completed.
England play their final World Cup warm-up when Costa Rica visit Leeds on Thursday night. Dreamt of going to a World Cup since I was a kid. Ukraine’s favourite foods are borscht and burgers, and has one of the busiest McDonald’s branches in the world. Which teams are taking part this year? The important ones, he insists, are ‘those who play, and those who pay’. Karamoh, who was born in the Ivory Coast, has scored one goal in two matches for France’s under-21 side. But it’s inevitable that many of the games will feature second string teams as those who went to Russia lounge on the beach. Mendy is a former Nice captain and has played 110 league games for the club. Central midfielder Nampalys Mendy has returned to former club Nice on a season-long loan from Leicester. Origi was signed from Lille in 2014 and spent a season back on loan at the French club before scoring 21 goals in 77 appearances for Liverpool over two years. Another staple of the England squad with question marks over his head, Walker brought back his old self in this international break.
