England thrashed Panama 6-1 yesterday to secure their place in the last 16 and set up a mouthwatering showdown on Thursday with Belgium who, like the Three Lions, have also won their first two matches in group G.
England’s hero against Panama was Harry Kane, who joined Geoff Hurst (1966) and Gary Lineker (1986) as the only Englishmen to score a hat-trick in a World Cup. A brace from John Stones and a superb long-range effort from Jesse Lingard were the source of England’s other goals.
True, England shouldn’t get too carried away after beating a poor Central American side, but at the same time the last minnows they met in an international tournament, Iceland in the 2016 Euros, ended up beating them.
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It’s a sign of how much England have progressed under Gareth Southgate that they ruthlessly despatched a weak opponent, although Panama did have the consolation of scoring their first World Cup goal when 37-year-old Felipe Baloy netted late on.
It’s only the third time in a World Cup that England have won their opening two group-stage games (1982 and 2006) and Kane is now leading the race for the Golden Boot, his five goals being one more than Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku of Belgium.
Reactions to England’s victory
Harry Kane on the possibility of winning the Golden Boot: “There’s going to be a lot of talk about it but there’s a long way to go. We’ve got some of the best players in the world scoring goals, doing well. For me, it’s about the wins. And we’ve got another big game on Thursday to try and finish top. Hopefully I can score more goals and help my team.”
Kane on the win against Panama: “I’m extremely proud. We’re proud of each other, the way we played, the discipline, the hard work. And we had fun out there as well, which is important. It could have been a tough game. We started well, we’ve been working hard on set-pieces and they came together as well. We’ve got to enjoy this. It’s not every year that we go through after two games.”
Kane on Panama’s physical approach: “We knew it would be an aggressive game, they’d do everything they could to stop us. I thought the discipline was really good from us, we didn’t get involved in anything silly, we made sure the ref was aware of holding and pulling. And we got what we deserved. I’m very proud of the lads for that.”
Gareth Southgate on the result: “I didn’t particularly like the performance. Well, I didn’t like the start, and I didn’t like the goal at the end, but I guess the bits in the middle were pretty good. I think we were a little bit anxious at the beginning… but it’s really rewarding to see how well they’re playing, and how much they’re enjoying their football.”
Southgate on whether he will change his team for Belgium: "We want to keep momentum, so we’ll have to have a think about the team we want to put out. There’s an opportunity as well that players that need a match, but also we want to keep winning football matches. It’s a nice decision to have.”
Southgate on Harry Kane: “We wouldn’t swap him for anyone at the tournament in terms of No.9s. We know that when he gets opportunities he’s going to bury them, you sit there very confident in his ability to take chances.”
Ashley Young on the team spirit: “The togetherness I’ve seen is incredible. Off the pitch everybody mixes with each other. Everybody wants the ball, nobody shies away from the ball. We’ve got to keep on doing that, keep showing our confidence and keep playing the way we have. We’ve just got to keep our feet on the ground and keep working hard in training. This could be the start of something good.”
Jesse Lingard on whether England can go all the way: “With the squad we’ve got and the confidence flowing I don’t see why [we can’t lift the cup], but at the moment we’re still learning and we’ll take it game by game. There’s a lot of positivity, so we’ll take it into the Belgium game.”
John Stones on scoring his first (and second) goal for England: “I think to score my first goals for England, that was something special, especially at the World Cup. Not something I thought I’d do at the start of the day... I remember four years ago, knowing how hard the lads had worked. This time round, playing, we wanted to do the country proud and get through to the next step and see where we can go.”
Rio Ferdinand on Panama: “This Panama team wouldn’t sit well in our non-league in England, they’re that bad.”
Gary Lineker on the goal-fest: “This is getting silly. Last time England scored 4 or more goals in a World Cup was the 1966 WC final.”
