Internationals – England held, agony for Wales, Sarr features in Senegal win
Fri 25 November 2022, 21:10|
Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Kane played the full 90 minutes but couldn’t find a breakthrough as England were held to a goalless draw by USA in their second match at the World Cup on Friday evening.
Having trounced Iran 6-2 in their opening game in Group B, Gareth Southgate’s men were brimming with confidence going into the clash with the States in Al Khor, but were left frustrated on the night as the match ended 0-0.
Skipper Harry had arguably England’s best chance to score in stoppage time, but his header from Luke Shaw’s free-kick flew off-target.
Eric Dier was an unused substitute for the Three Lions, who remain in control of their group heading into Tuesday’s clash with Wales in Al Rayyan. Indeed, only a heavy defeat to Rob Page’s men would prevent them from qualifying for the last 16.
Wales themselves have it all to do after suffering a crushing 2-0 loss to Iran on Friday morning. Ben Davies and on-loan Joe Rodon both played the full game, Ben going close to winning it for Wales with a rasping left-footed shot a few minutes before the end of normal time. However, it all went wrong in the latter stages with goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey sent off on 86 minutes and Iran scoring twice deep into time added on to leave Wales bottom of the standings with a solitary point going into their third outing of the tournament.
Pape Matar Sarr was also in action on Friday afternoon, the young midfielder coming on for Senegal in their 3-1 victory over hosts Qatar for his first taste of World Cup football. Introduced off the bench in the 77th minute at 2-0, Pape assumed set-piece duties for the reigning Africa Cup of Nations holders as they quickly conceded before pushing on to win 3-1 in Doha, thus putting their first points on the board in Group A.
There are two games involving our players taking place on Saturday, as Hugo Lloris and France meet Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s Denmark in Group D, kick-off 4pm UK time, before Cristian Romero’s Argentina face Mexico in Group C at 7pm UK.
