For the first match of this World Cup year, manager Thomas Tuchel was able to give a few new names a try out before selecting the players he will want to take to the USA for the World Cup Tournament. The match had a slow start and it was soon obvious that both teams were operating in similar style and cancelled each other out. As a result the first 20 minutes saw little in the way of positive action or goal chances.

In the 19th minute a corner broke for Dominic Solanke but his shot was easily gathered by Fernando Muslera. England then won a few corners but those led to nothing. At the other end Augustin Conobbio shot well over the bar from a rare attack by the South Americans. There was plenty of passing and possession from England but most of it was going nowhere. They tried using the wings with Chuck Madueka on the right and Marcus Rashford on the left, and the occasional burst from each did threaten danger to a well-organised Uruguayan defence. Unfortunately Madueka was injured following a collision with Joaquin Piquerez just after the half-hour, and soon after was substituted. Jarrod Bowen taking his place.

Solanke was working hard and from one left-wing cross he headed goalwards but, again, it was easily saved. On 40 minutes a fine run by Rashford ended with a cross that was hard and too long and the move came to nothing.

The end of a dismal first-half came when Rashford's bad pass found Conobbio and once again his shot reached the back row of the stand! One change was made at half-time for England with captain Jordan Henderson being replaced by Adam Wharton with Harry Maguire taking the captain's armband.

It has to be said when we play these sort of teams that they tend to milk every challenge, trying to con referees, but don't hold back on their tackles, some of which are borderline red card offences. One particularly nasty incident early in the second-half took out Phil Foden and the Manchester City player was lucky to escape a serious injury after a studs up challenge. The German referee did nothing. After recovery, Foden then had a half-chance but his shot was weak and easily saved, whilst Rashford lost possession in a good position as the game meandered in nothing sort of way. You always know when a Wembley crowd are restless when the paper darts start flying!

After that it was time for more substitutions with Dominic Calvert-Lewin on for Solanke and Cole Palmer on for Foden. On 63 minutes Rashford's shot was blocked and looped up into the goalkeeper's hands and after that Uruguay made two substitutions. The Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa spent most of the match sat on a drinks box, and he reminded me of 'Old Mose' in the John Wayne film The Searchers, asking for his Rocking Chair!

A free-kick to the visitors in a dangerous position ended with yet another shot gathering ice, flying well over the bar. Wharton is brought down as England readied four more subs and after Palmer is brought down by Manuel Ugarte a free -kick was awarded and from the centre England really should have taken the lead. Palmer's cross was perfect for Calvert-Lewin to head in at the far post, but somehow, and inexplicably, the Leeds player headed it wide from two yards out. A dreadful miss.

Our goalkeeper, James Trafford, on debut, was a virtual centre-half for much of the game and never once had a save to make. I do worry about this use of a goalkeeper though, as we have seen so often, one mistake and dodgy pass and it could be curtains.

As we approached the last ten minutes Uruguay had a spell of pressure, although without any threat to goal, and then, out of the blue, England took the lead. Another good delivery of a corner by Palmer was twice deflected and there was Ben White at the far post to register the easiest first goal for his country since David Nugent of Preston scored against Andorra in 2007. Of course there were protests from the Uruguay team, accusing Wharton of blocking off a defender, and VAR was looked at, but the goal quite rightly stood.

Palmer had definitely added something to the England attack and more good play from the Chelsea player won another corner. From that kick Calvert-Lewin was rugby tackled to the ground and yet nobody noticed. Why should VAR be used for the earlier goal but not for the incident when following a corner an England player is wrestled to the ground in a bear hug? It beggars belief at times.

Uruguay were showing their tetchiness now as things were going against them, a normal trait in their game as fans with long memories will know. But, with four of the five added minutes played they were given a gift by a very weak referee. As Frederico Vinas shot over, White's challenge to try and block the shot was nothing more than a genuine challenge. Vinas made a meal of it and caused the referee to refer to the VAR again. To England's great surprise and disappointment a penalty was awarded. VAR has made some weird decisions since it came in to ruin the game, but this one took the biscuit, and quite frankly the referee should have seen it for what it was. As it turned out, Frederico Valverde scored with an emphatic spot-kick, to equalise for a totally undeserved draw.

This was a really poor International match in many ways with a crazy penalty award ending the action. As the visiting players celebrated their ‘triumph', I could not help but remember the Calvert-Lewin diabolical miss. Had he scored then the game would have been over when White scored. But DCL has a habit of scoring one and missing several for his clubs, so perhaps we should not be surprised.
  

Source Notes