England cruised through their final World Cup preparation match in second gear against a Costa Rica side who failed to put up any sort of technical test in the 3-0 win, thanks to goals from Declan Rice, Anthony Gordon and Ollie Watkins.
Match Overview
Thomas Tuchel's side found little in the way of challenge from New Zealand in the 1-0 win last Saturday and Costa Rica proved to be another training ground exercise in attacking vs defence - much like England will expect against Panama in their final group game.
There was a lot to learn for Tuchel as he named a team that looked increasingly like one that could start the opening group game against Croatia next Wednesday. Anthony Gordon and Jude Bellingham both impressed in their starts while the midfield duo of Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, who is the subject of a nine-figure transfer pursuit from Manchester City, accommodated each other perfectly.
Weather Delay
Kick-off in Orlando was delayed by an hour after torrential rain and thunderstorms threw the fixture in doubt as the weather caused chaos for fans and flooded the pitch at the Inter&Co Stadium.
Thankfully, the weather passed not long after the revised kick-off time was confirmed and the England team eventually made the short trip to the stadium. The pitch was also able to dry in remarkably quick fashion, but the turf on top was kicked up just minutes into the game. Something that unfortunately looks to be one of the main talking points of the tournament already.
First Half Performance
England took the lead after 10 minutes when Anthony Gordon put his marker down to start on the left-wing against Croatia. The new £70million Barcelona star has seemingly taken Marcus Rashford's place at the Camp Nou and his pace and ability to make Shawn Johnson Edwards look like a Sunday morning vets player did everything he could to nail down a starting spot. Gordon skipped round Edwards for the first of about 10 times in the opening 25 minutes, driving to the byline to pull the ball back to Declan Rice who swept home a tidy finish.
The Three Lions looked determined to get their patterns right and impress their gaffer as they moved the ball quickly and left their opponents chasing shadows with their movement. Jude Bellingham's place in the starting line-up was one to watch how the Real Madrid star would complement Harry Kane over Morgan Rogers. And despite a poor season in Spain, Bellingham impressed and looked like a player with a point to prove.
He played a perfectly weighted pass through to Noni Madueke towards the end of the first-half, leaving the Arsenal star looking destined to double the lead, but after rounding the keeper, he hit the post with an open goal. Definitely not the impression the winger with 12 goal involvements in 43 games was hoping for, and certainly one that most of the country who opposed his place in the squad did not want to be proved right about.
Second Half and Goals
Madueke's miss meant England headed into the break just one goal ahead, possibly a reason why Tuchel didn't make any changes. In fact he didn't turn to the bench until the 62nd minute when a host of changes were rolled out, including Morgan Rogers replacing Kane, seeing England play without an out-and-out striker.
The second-half was not as easy for England as Costa Rica stepped up the physicality of the game, seeing one hack at Ezri Konsa in particular anger his team-mates. Time wasting from the Central Americans also irked Tuchel and took the momentum out of the early stages of the half.
Bellingham's move to England's furthest player forward brought about a second goal when he danced his way through a crowded penalty box before teeing up Eberechi Eze. The Arsenal man's goalbound shot was deflected wide by an arm and a penalty was given, which Gordon subsequently slammed into the top corner in the 68th minute.
England continued to press home their fresh legs off the bench and Watkins got his confidence-boosting goal as he followed in to head in the rebound from Morgan Rogers' parried shot with three minutes to go.
