England football

England notched up their third straight win as they saw off a tough Switzerland side 2-1 at Wembley, in a match where Marc Guehi, Kyle Walker-Peters and ...

76’ - PENALTY FOR ENGLAND! - The corner comes in, and the ball touches the arm of Zuber! His back was to the play, but it could be argued that his arm was not in a natural position. His strike from the edge of the area flies in to the roof of the net! 24’ - OFF THE BAR! - Frei hits a fizzing shot from inside the area and it smacks against the upright! The referee checks with the VAR for a possible offside in the build-up but the check is complete and the goal stands! Then, with fifteen minutes to go, England were awarded a penalty after Stephen Zuber was adjudged to handle the ball in the box. Despite Switzerland looking like the side more likely to score, a poor mistake by Frei was punished right on the stroke of half-time.

Attacking midfielder Shannon went to Grace Academy and is now a professional footballer.

With Shannon's strong performances, the next step was a call up to England. She revealed: "Being called up was one of the best moments of my life. "I was on a pro contract at Cov, but it wasn't enough to live on," she said. "I would say that to all girls in a similar situation, don't stick around just because of the name of the club, Arsenal or Villa, go where you are appreciated and where you will actually play games. She left Athletic at 13 and joined Aston Villa, which she says gave her a taste of just what the professional game looked like - something which helped give her the desire to reach the top. She tried girls football, playing a game with Coventry City Girls, but much preferred the pace and grit of the boy's league. But one girl from Coventry has gone from outshining boys on the muddy fields of Cov, to playing at Premier League stadiums and even representing her country.

Switzerland will be without defender Fabian Schar after he picked up an adductor problem in training.

"I know them very well, played against them in the Premier League and for me it is not a big difference to play against them for the national team. He squares it to the back post and Walker-Peters is there but he hits the post. He paired Phil Foden and Kane in attack in the first half and later said that their tendency to press the ball early had been a problem. England failed to dominate the ball and never got up the pitch to settle into the passing patterns that might stretch Switzerland. Foden is released and he bursts into the box. But it will be hard for Southgate to ignore how flat it had been before then, in a first half where the three-man defence and wing-back system that he has returned to of late yielded one of the more forgettable England performances in recent memory. That was a strange half, which to Southgate’s credit he started to put right at half-time and then reassembled his team after the hour with the introduction of more of the big hitters. More than once Jordan Pickford made good saves, of the kind the Everton man is adept at – spotting the ball through a crowd of players. The Swedish referee Andreas Ekberg was told there was no case to answer. Until then Shaw, and his fellow wing-back Walker-Peters, had barely been seen in attacking positions in the opposition area and, when finally they were, the effect was profound. There was also a first start for Conor Gallagher, and Southgate would later say that was important. Southgate admitted afterwards that the initial team shape was a means to an end.

Harry Kane talks to Sky. “It was a tough game. A big year ahead, so it's a chance for us to try some different systems, and see how we get on. We need as much ...

49 min: Kane and Shaw combine well down the left to win a corner. The ball’s rolled right to left across the face of the Swiss box by Gallagher. Shaw, racing in, creams a drive from the edge of the area into the top left! 48 min: Rodriguez bowls Gallagher to the floor, out on the right flank. 51 min: Shaqiri releases Steffen down the right with a crisp backheel. 54 min: Vargas worms his way down the left and wins a corner off White. Shaqiri takes. 77 min: The referee draws a TV screen in the air and points to the spot! 56 min: England started the second half briskly, but Switzerland are beginning to establish a level of calm control. 60 min: Mbabu drives down the right and wins a corner. 72 min: White buys a ticket to the raffle from 25 yards. He tries to find Sterling with a low cross but the ball’s blocked out for a corner. The ball’s half cleared to Kane, who looks for number 50 with a fierce volley, but it’s blocked and it turns out Bellingham had been a bit bellicose in the challenge earlier in the move, and the whistle goes. It was a good performance, obviously there’s room for us to improve, but it’s a good win to start the year.