ENGLAND have made NINE changes as they take on Romania in their final warm-up match ahead of Euro 2020.
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- England XI: Johnstone, Godfrey, Shaw, Mings, White, Ward-Prowse, Grealish, Phillips, Sancho, Rashford, Calvert-Lewin.
- Romania XI: Nita, Sorescu, Chiriches, Nedelcearu, Camora, Cicaldau, Marin, Stanciu, Paun, Alibec, Ivan.
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ENGLAND 0-0 ROMANIA
5. It’s the back four we expected from England, with Sancho dropping deep from the right of the front three .
Manchester United teammates Rashford and Shaw will link up down the left.
ENGLAND 0-0 ROMANIA
2. Tyrone Mings slips as the ball comes into him and it goes behind for a corner. Don’t be doing that next week.
ENGLAND 0-0 ROMANIA
1. We’re off and under way. Come on England!
PEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEP!
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HERE COME THE TEAMS!
It’s the final dress rehearsal before it starts to get serious.
England are in their blue away strip, while Romania are sporting all white.
The Three Lions haven’t beaten Romania for 51 years.
Now it’s time for the national anthems.
There is a smattering of boos mixed with applause as the players take the knee.
SOUTHGATE PRE-MATCH
Gareth Southgate has been talking to ITV ahead of today’s game…
On his team selection
“We have players that need minutes and players that definitely don’t need more minutes. One or two players we want to look at and one or two debutants.”
On a replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold
“We’re still open-minded. We have a pretty good idea. It’s a great opportunity for those players.”
On Marcus Rashford taking the captain’s armband
“He’s the most experienced international player in the team today. It’s a good opportunity for him to show some leadership and he had a big smile on his face when we told him.”
On Jordan Henderson
“The plan would be that he gets 45 today and he can build from there.”
On the aims for the game
“Tactically, there are things we’ve worked on in the week. We want to be tighter. Some of our build-up play [against Austia] could have been better. So, there are some patterns of play we’ve talked about with the players.”
On taking the knee
“We can’t control the response. We’re very clear on our stance. We’re united as a staff and a playing group.”
HAVE YOUR SAY
With Southgate opting for a particularly pacy and dynamic front-line against Romania, who are you backing to stand out and make the difference?
ROY NOT KEANE
Gareth Southgate said he wants to have Jordan Henderson around the England squad for his experience – even if he is injured.
Roy Keane’s response on ITV?: “Why keep him? Does he do card tricks? A sing song? Does he do quizzes in the evenings?”
ROMANIA SELECTION
Romania boss Mirel Rodoi hands a debut to Adrian Paun. The winger will start on the left of a front three.
Former Spurs defender and Romania captain Vlad Chiriches earns a 64th cap for his country.
Radoi said: “It will be a tough and aggressive team [England] that we will meet.
“It will be a challenge not to be only well-organised in defence, because if we concentrate only on this it will be difficult to make the positive transition and go to the attacking side.
“We will try, even if we will be forced to suffer a bit, to alternate the pressing with the defensive organisation of the game.”
Romania won’t be at Euro 2020 after being defeated by Iceland in the play-offs.
HENDO WORRIES
Jordan Henderson was expected to start this evening but is only named on the bench as he continues to work his way back to fitness.
If he doesn’t get minutes at some stage tonight, what role can he expect to play at the Euros? The 30-year-old hasn’t played since picking up a groin injury in February.
The England skipper has been branded selfish by former Aston Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor for taking a spot ahead of another fully-fit player.
“The thing that’s really winding me up is Henderson,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT.
“He should just be honest with the manager and say, ‘You know what? I’m struggling here. I’m a leader and a captain in myself, I’ll do the right thing for the squad.
“Bring in Ben White, Eric Dier, bring in whoever you have to bring in, because this injury is playing up now, I’m not fit and it might reoccur if I do get better for the second game.’ I think he’s being selfish.”
HAVE YOUR SAY
Will Southgate’s experimental XI brush Romania aside, or will Romania pull off a shock and beat one of the tournament favourites for Euro 2020?
ROMANIA SUBS:
25 Alexandru Baluta, 20 Constantin Budescu, 2 Tiberiu Capusa, 3 Cristian Ganea, 14 Ianis Hagi, 93 Florin Iacob, 10 Alexandru Maxim, 11 Olimpiu Morutan, 21 Darius Olaru, 4 Adrian Rus, 12 Andrei Vlad
NINE CHANGES, THREE DEBUTS
So Gareth Southgate makes nine changes for today’s game from the side that defeated Austria in midweek, with Sam Johnstone, Ben Godfrey and Ben White all handed their debuts.
The only two players who keep their places from Wednesday are Jack Grealish and Tyrone Mings.
Bukayo Sako, scorer of the winner against Austria, misses out with a hip injury.
Harry Kane wasn’t expected to be in the squad today but is named on the bench.
The Manchester City and Chelsea stars who only reported for duty on Friday following their Champions League exploits aren’t included.
Southgate said this week: “I don’t think the training periodisation would be right to put them into Sunday’s game.”
We expect Grealish to play in a No.10 role, with Marcus Rashford on the right, Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the centre and Jadon Sancho on the left.
ROMANIA XI:
1 Florin Nita, 24 Dejan Sorescu, 6 Vlad Chiriches ©, 5 Jonut Nedelcearu, 22 Mario Camora, 8 Alex Cicaldau, 18 Razvan Marin, 23 Nicolae Stanciu, 17 Adrian Paun, 7 Denis Alibec, 9 Andrei Ivan
ENGLAND SUBS:
12 Kieran Trippier, 13 Jordan Pickford, 14 Conor Coady, 16 Jordan Henderson, 17 Jesse Lingard, 18 Ollie Watkins, 19 Jude Bellingham, 20 Harry Kane, 21 Declan Rice, 22 Aaron Ramsdale, 23 Dean Henderson
ENGLAND XI:
1 Sam Johnstone, 2 Ben Godfrey, 3 Luke Shaw, 4 Kalvin Phillips, 5 Tyrone Mings, 6 Ben White, 7 Jadon Sancho, 8 James Ward-Prowse, 9 Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 10 Jack Grealish, 11 Marcus Rashford ©
THE TEAMSHEETS ARE IN!
GOOD AFTERNOON FROM MIDDLESBROUGH
It’s England’s final friendly before the Euros – in exactly a week the Three Lions will be taking on Croatia in their opening Group D fixture.
We’re unlikely to see Gareth Southgate field the team that will start against the Croatians at Wembley, but Jordan Henderson is expected to make his first appearance since undergoing groin surgery in February.
“The last two, three days training have been a lot more positive for him. He’s been visibly happier within himself and that’s a positive sign,” said Southgate.
Henderson’s Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold has had to withdraw from the squad after sustaining a thigh injury in Wednesday’s friendly with Austria.
Southgate said: “It’s heartbreaking for any player to get to the eve of a major tournament and then miss out because of injury.”
Southgate will name a replacement for Alexander-Arnold after the Romania game, with Ben Godfrey, Ben White, James Ward-Prowse, Jesse Lingard and Ollie Watkins in contention.
“There isn’t a rush and it’s important to have time to consider these things. It’s important to get the balance right,” said Southgate.
Jadon Sancho will be fit for today’s game after training for the last three days.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk