|
"IT'S
BUKAYO WHACKER"
SunSport |
Officials
from Romania |
England
Squad |
Type |
Macedonia
Squad |
Referee
(yellow)
István Kovács
38 (16 September 1984), Carei, FIFA-listed 2018 |
14 |
Goal Attempts |
0 |
10 |
Attempts on Target |
0 |
Assistant Referees |
0 |
Hit Bar/Post |
0 |
Vasile Florin Marinescu 47
(6 April 1976) |
Mihai
Ovidiu Artene 45 (4 October
1977) |
7 |
Corner Kicks Won |
0 |
Fourth official Radu
Marian
Petrescutine 40 (12
November 1982), Bucareşti
UEFA Delegate: Andrey Medintsev, Bulgaria
UEFA Referee Observer: Markus Strömbergsson, Sweden |
1 |
Offside Calls Against |
0 |
13 |
Fouls Conceded |
8 |
66% |
Possession |
34% |
Video
Assistant Officials from
Netherlands |
|
Paulus Hendrikus
van Boekel 47 (19 September 1975), Venray
Jeroen Manschot 40 |
|
|
England
Team |
|
Rank |
FIFA (6
April 2023) 5th
EFO ranking
Group Two
ELO rating 6th |
Colours |
The Nike 2022 home jersey -
White crew-necked jerseys
with dark to light blue
fury gradient sleeves, fury/void cuffs, white shorts,
white socks with fury/void thin hoop. |
Captain |
Harry Kane |
Manager |
Gareth Southgate, 52 (3 September 1970), appointed caretaker manager on 27 September 2016, appointed as permanent manager on 30 November
2016. |
⁵⁰
most goals as captain |
59th of 73, W 36 - D 12 - L 11 - F 139 - A 48. |
|
Harry
Maguire 73:24 |
P 85th of 102, W 53 - D
18 - L 14 - F 189 - A 58. |
England
Lineup |
|
three changes on the previous match
(Trippier, Guéhi & Maddison out) |
league position (24th May) |
|
1 |
Pickford, Jordan L. |
29 104 days |
7 March 1994 |
G |
Everton FC
(PL 17th) |
54 |
39ᵍᵃ |
2
|
Walker, Kyle
A. |
33 22 days |
28 May 1990 |
RB |
Manchester City FC
(PL CHAMPIONS) |
76 |
0 |
5
|
Stones, John |
29 22 days |
28 May 1994 |
RCD |
Manchester City FC
(PL CHAMPIONS) |
67 |
3 |
6 |
Maguire, J. Harry |
30 106 days |
5 March 1993 |
LCD |
Manchester United FC
(PL 4th) |
57 |
7 |
3
|
Shaw, Luke P.H. |
27 342 days |
12 July 1995 |
LB |
Manchester United FC
(PL 4th) |
31 |
3 |
10
|
Alexander-Arnold, Trent J. |
24 255 days |
7 October 1998 |
RM |
Liverpool FC
(PL 5th) |
20 |
2 |
the 196th player to reach the 20-app
milestone |
4 |
Rice, Declan,
off 59th min. |
24 156 days |
14 January 1999 |
CM |
West Ham United FC
(PL 14th) |
43 |
3 |
|
41st min. for catching the foot of Elif Elmas after first getting the ball |
|
|
|
8
|
Henderson, Jordan B.,
off 58th min. |
33
2 days |
17 June 1990 |
LM |
Liverpool FC
(PL 5th) |
77 |
3 |
7 |
Saka, Bukayo A.T.,
off 59th min. |
21 287 days |
5 September 2001 |
RF |
Arsenal FC
(PL RU) |
28 |
11 |
|
the 370th
(237th post-war) brace,
the 91st (54th post-war) hattrick scored |
9
|
Kane, Harry E., off 74th
min. |
29 326 days |
28 July 1993 |
CF |
Tottenham Hotspur FC
(PL 8th) |
84 |
58²⁰ |
the 371st
(238th post-war) brace
scored |
|
the 107th
penalty-kick scored
(145) -
25th EC |
11
|
Rashford, Marcus,
off 58th min. |
25 231 days |
31 October 1997 |
LF |
Manchester United FC
(PL 4th) |
53 |
16 |
England
Substitutes |
scoreline:
England
5 North Macedonia 0 |
17
|
Grealish, Jack P., on 58th min.
(57:42) for Rashford |
27 282 days |
10 September 1995 |
LF |
Manchester City FC
(PL CHAMPIONS) |
32 |
13 |
2 |
19 |
19 |
Gallagher, Conor J., on 58th min.
(57:45) for Henderson |
23 133 days |
6 February 2000 |
LM |
Chelsea FC
(PL 12th) |
7 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
20 |
Foden, Philip W., on 59th min.
(58:01) for Saka |
23 22 days |
28 May 2000 |
RF |
Manchester City FC
(PL CHAMPIONS) |
25 |
16 |
3 |
9 |
15 |
Phillips, Kalvin M., on 59th min.
(58:10) for Rice |
27 199 days |
2 December 1995 |
DM |
Manchester City FC
(PL CHAMPIONS)
|
27
|
21 |
1
|
6 |
|
|
the 105th goal by a substitute |
|
77th min. for tripping Ilija Nestorovski on the centre-circle |
scoreline:
England 7 North Macedonia
0 |
23 |
Wilson, Callum E.G., on 74th min.
(73:42) for Kane |
31 112 days |
27 February 1992 |
CF |
Newcastle United FC (PL
3rd) |
8 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
result:
England 7 North Macedonia 0 |
unused
substitutes: |
12-Kieran Trippier, 13-Aaron Ramsdale, 14-Marc
Guéhi, 16-Tyrone Mings, 18-James Maddison, 21-Eberechi Eze, 22-Sam Johnstone. |
team notes: |
This is England's third time at hosting Macedonia, and
the first victory. Having drawn the previous two matches. Jack Grealish's great great
grandfather,
Billy Garraty, also played for
England in 1903. Harry Maguire is the twelfth England player to
make his
fiftieth competitive appearance. |
youth notes: |
England and Macedonia have met only a few times in
youth level matches
featuring the participating players. Phil Foden started for the under-19
side that lost to FYR Macedonia in March 2018. In the following
fixture six months later, Conor Gallagher was a substitute. Then
Bukayo Saka was a substitute and a goalscorer at the same level that
met the renamed North Macedonia thirteen months later. |
stadium notes: |
This is England's first visit back at Old Trafford since
February 2007, before the new National Stadium was built, when Old
Trafford was virtually England's temporary home venue. |
captain notes: |
Harry Kane continues to break his own records, he is now =fourth, with
David Beckham, in the
most
captaincies list. Taking 174 days less to do so. Now six
captaincies behind Bryan Robson. His
fifty goals as captain is now 27 more than Vivian Woodward in
second place. Not since 2014-15 under Wayne Rooney has one player
captained the side for every match throughout the season (although
Kane did previously captain all the matches in the abandoned 2019-20
season) |
team records: |
England's 150th European Championship match, ECP & ECF
(W 92 D
57 L 21
F 324 A 102). Since the
very first goal by Ron Flowers in October 1962, Kalvin Phillips
becomes the 100th player to score a European Championship goal.
England's eightieth clean sheet in the
month of
June. |
Manager Gareth Southgate was in the England squad the first time FYR
Macedonia came to
England in October 2002. |
|
4-3-3 |
Pickford - Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw -
Alexander-Arnold, Rice (Phillips), Henderson
(Gallagher)
- Saka (Foden),
Kane (Wilson), Rashford (Grealish) |
Averages (Starting XI): |
Age |
28
years 43 days |
Appearances/Goals |
53.6 |
9.1 |
oldest and most experienced team played by Gareth
Southgate |
|
|
North
Macedonia Team |
|
Rank |
FIFA (6
April 2023)
65th
EFO ranking
n/a
ELO rating 74th to 75th |
Colours |
Made by Jako - Red v-necked jerseys with yellow sunburst
design from chest and yellow panel on cuffs, red shorts, red socks |
Captain |
Stefan Ristovski
Enis Bardhi half-time Stole Dimitrievski 66:30 |
Manager |
Blagoja Milevski 52 (25 March 1971), appointed 1 August 2021 |
22nd match, W 8 - D 5 - L 9 - F 29 - A 32. |
North
Macedonia Lineup |
1 |
Dimitrievski, Stole |
29 176 days |
25 December 1993 |
G |
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid,
Spain |
62 |
0 |
13 |
Ristovski, Stefan, inj.
off half-time |
31 129 days |
12 February 1992 |
RB |
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia |
82 |
2 |
14 |
Velkovski, Darko |
27 363 days |
21 June 1995 |
CB |
Al Eittifaq FC, Saudi Arabia |
48 |
3 |
4 |
Zajkov, Gjoko,
off 57th min. |
28 131 days |
10 February 1995 |
LB |
Universitatea Craiova 1948 CS, Romania |
25 |
1 |
3 |
Aškovski, Stefan |
31 117 days |
24 February 1992 |
RWB |
PAS
Lamia 1964, Greece |
22 |
0 |
10 |
Bardhi, Enis, injured off
67th min. |
27 352 days |
2 July 1995 |
RM |
Trabzonspor Kb, Turkey |
56 |
14 |
5 |
Ademi, Arijan,
off 58th min. |
33 21 days |
29 May 1991 in Šibenik, Croatia |
AM |
Beijing Guoan FC, China |
30 |
4 |
7 |
Elmas, Elif |
23 268 days |
24 September 1999 |
LM |
SSC
Napoli, Italy |
50 |
11 |
8 |
Alioski, Ezdjan |
31 129 days |
12 February 1992 |
LWB |
Fenerbahçe, Turkey, on
loan from Al Ahli, Saudi Arabia |
67 |
12 |
9 |
Trajkovski, Aleksandar,
off 57th min. |
30 287 days |
5 September 1992 |
RF |
Al-Fayha, Saudi Arabia |
84 |
20 |
23 |
Nestorovski, Ilija |
33 99 days |
12 March 1990 |
LF |
Udinese Calcio, Italy |
52 |
10 |
North
Macedonia
Substitutes |
scoreline:
England 3 North Macedonia 0 |
2 |
Bejtulai, Egzon, on half-time for Ristovski |
29 163 days |
7 January 1994 |
RB |
KF
Shkëndija |
27 |
0
|
|
72nd min. for pulling back on John Stones as he tried to run.
PENALTY |
|
|
|
scoreline:
England 5 North Macedonia 0 |
20 |
Babunski, Dorian, on 57th min.
(56:42) for Trajkovski |
26 |
29 August 1996 |
RF |
Debreceni VSI, Hungary |
7 |
0 |
6 |
Serafimov, Nikola, on 57th min.
(56:54) for Zajkov |
23 |
11 August 1999 |
LB |
MOL
Fehérvár FC, Hungary |
6 |
0 |
11 |
Atanasov, Jani, on 58th min.
(57:10) for Ademi |
23 231 days |
31 October 1999 |
LWB |
MKS Cracovia SSA, Poland |
8 |
0 |
scoreline:
England 6 North Macedonia 0 |
16 |
Babunski, David, on 67th min.
(66:40) for Bardhi |
29 110 days |
1 March 1994 |
RM |
Mezőkövesdi SE, Hungary |
15 |
0 |
result:
England 7 North Macedonia 0 |
unused
substitutes: |
12-Dejan Iliev, 15-Jovan Manev, 17-Ljupcho Doriev, 18-Agon Elezi, 19-Milan Ristovski, 21-Bojan Dimoski, 22-Damjan Šiškovski. |
team
notes: |
Stefan Ristovski received treatment to a head injury (15:52-21:46)
following a clash in the Macedonian six-yard box with Harry Kane
(15:24). Stefan and Milan Ristovski are brothers, as are David and Dorian
Babunski. |
records: |
North Macedonia's heaviest defeat. |
|
3-5-2 |
Dimitrievski - Ristovski
(Bejtulaj), Velkovski,
Zajkov (Serafimov) - Ashkovski, Bardhi
(David Babunski), Ademi
(Atanasov), Elmas,
Alioski - Trajkovski (Dorian Babunski), Nestorovski |
Averages (Starting XI): |
Age |
29 years 290 days |
Appearances/Goals |
52.5 |
7.0 |
|
|
Match Report
by Mike Payne |
At the end of my last report, on the Malta game, I suggested that it might
be nice for the fans to see a little bit of the 'Bazball' element
introduced into this England set-up. Well. blow me down, we had 'Gazball'
and it happened in spades for the visit of North Macedonia. This has to go
down as one of the best attacking displays by an England team in recent
memory!
Right from the first whistle, England
were really up for this one as they tore into the visiting defence
continuously in the opening 20 minutes. With Marcus
Rashford on the left,
and Bukayo
Saka on the right, making inroads every time England went
forward, it was exciting to watch. As early as the second minute
Saka
forced the first save from the keeper, and from then on it was basically
one-way traffic. There were a few isolated breakaways by North Macedonia
but these were dealt with efficiently by John Stones, Harry Maguire, and
the two full-backs, Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw.
In the fifth minute Rashford was only
just stopped after he jinked his way through defenders, and then four
minutes later Stones headed over from a corner. By this time the visiting
defenders were chasing shadows and tied up in knots, such was the
determined play by the home side. After the quarter-hour a cross from the
right was scrambled away by England, and then Harry Kane was hurt after a
nasty clash of heads with Stefan Ristovski. Both recovered after treatment
and the exciting first 20 minutes ended with Rashford seeing his shot
smothered by Stole Dimitrievski in the NM goal. The positive way that
England were swiftly moving the ball around augured well for greater
things, as first Rashford was stopped at the expense of a corner, and then
Saka so nearly set up another chance. Maguire then headed a Trent
Alexander-Arnold corner wide but surely the pressure had to tell
eventually?
And so it was, in the 29th
minute, when England took the lead with a fine move and goal. Lovely play
down the left as Rashford gained possession and his clever nutmeg pass
through a defenders legs puts the ball into the marauding Shaw's feet. He
pulled the ball back from the bye-line and there was that master finisher
Mr Harry Edward Kane making Michael Edward Payne a very happy reporter! It
was no less than England deserved for what had been a blistering start to
the match. Immediately Saka and Rashford combined and Jordan Henderson
came so close to making it 2-0. As it turned out we had to wait until the
38th minute for that scoreline, and what a goal it was.
Great passing and movement between
Rashford, Kane and Walker ended with the latter's pass to Saka. The
Arsenal youngster wasted no time in crashing a vicious shot into the roof
of the net to give the keeper no chance. Declan Rice is then a little
unluckily booked for a foul on Elif Elmas, a bit harsh for what was his
first tackle of the night
In the last couple of first-half
minutes of the half, Rashford almost scored, and then did score, after
more thrilling attacks. Kane intercepted a bad pass and quickly spotted
the run of Henderson and flicked the ball to him. He, in turn, laid the
ball back and there was Rashford to score a simple tap-in from close
range. That ended one of the best attacking halves seen from England for a
long, long time. They were so dominant that I don't recall Jordan Pickford
even having a touch. Now, the good news was, there was absolutely no let
up from England when the second-half began. Two minutes in to the half and
Saka scored the goal of the game.
A first-time long ball forward by
Alexander-Arnold (I apologise if ever I write Alexander-Armstrong by
mistake, too much Pointless I'm afraid!). I digress, a fabulous long pass
from Alexander-Arnold found Saka scampering forward perfectly. The
youngster's control and touch was outstanding, and the shot he fired in
was unstoppable. The goal was simply magnificent! We thought it couldn't
get any better for the Arsenal star, but three minutes later it did just
that.
This time the provider was Kane, whose
passing is often overlooked, but the sweetest of passes sent Saka in on
goal and a collective holding of breath went round the stadium as he homed
in goal. Would he? He certainly did, and he tucked the ball home in a
manner that Jimmy Greaves himself would have been delighted with. The look
of joy on the face of Saka was brilliant too as he realised what he had
done.
At 5-0 up it was standing ovation time
as Rashford, Henderson, Rice and especially Saka all went off to a superb
thank you from the crowd, with Phil Foden, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish
and Conor Gallagher brought into the action. And just ten minutes later
the boys were at it again as Grealish sent in a cross which was deflected
into the path of Phillips and he will never score an easier first goal for
his country, from close in. One of the bright spots of this England
performance was that the first touches and the passing was excellent from
all the players and the way they never let up from searching for more
goals was really impressive.
On 71 minutes an England corner came in
and as the players tried to meet the ball, Stones was clumsily bundled
over by Egzon Bejtulai and the referee awarded a penalty. Harry eye's lit
up again, well one of them did, because his other eye had noticed that
Gareth Southgate wanted to send on Callum Wilson. If ever a look said to
the manager "not yet boss" it was that which Harry gave the bench.
Needless to say, Kane was not about to give this chance up and hit the
penalty hard and true for a 7-0 lead. "Okay, I'll go off now," as Kane
appeared to say and the smiles exchanged between him and Wilson as they
high fived each other at the substitution said it all!!
Before the end a mistake by the
crestfallen keeper almost gave Phillips a second goal but this time the
North Macedonia defence blocked the chance. And that was it. A wonderful
and exhilarating performance by England, from start to finish, and it was
a great way to end the season's internationals.
|
Source Notes |
TheFA.com
BBC Sport Macedonian Football |
|
UEFA.com Mike Payne - football historian and contributor |
|
cg |