England lost 1-0 after just 11 minutes of their friendly against Belgium at Wembley on Tuesday night – and there was only one player to blame for the opener.
Jordan Pickford has been harshly criticized by angry England fans after he gifted Belgium a goal in a friendly match at Wembley Stadium.
Everton goalkeeper Gareth Southgate has been given the nod to play in a trial squad against Belgium on Tuesday night. Pickford made his 60th international appearance for the Three Lions after retaining his place following the 1-0 defeat to Brazil on Saturday.
It didn't go to plan for the 30-year-old, however, as he let loose a shout just 11 minutes into the game to give Youri Tielemans the opener. After withdrawing to the left of his penalty area, Pickford took a clearing kick, sending it straight at Tielemans outside the England penalty area.
The Aston Villa midfielder did not miss the opportunity, moving forward between the two England defences, who split to give Pickford passing options. As Pickford raced back into his own net, Tielemans easily found the bottom to make it 1-0, sparking a torrent of comments on Twitter.
One upset fan wrote: “Pickford this is really terrible, this is really bad.” Another wrote: “Pickford often ignores simple options to be flashy or shoot the ball sky high.” “Embarrassed by Pickford. He thinks he wears smart pants all the time,” one fan concluded.
“Pickford is a clown,” declared another. Perhaps ignoring his overall strong performances for his country, another said: “There's a reason Pickford doesn't play for a big club.”
Fortunately for Pickford, England did not trail for long, as Ivan Toney made it 1-1 after just six minutes. The Brentford striker got behind Jan Vertonghen and tapped the ball with his foot before the veteran defender rushed in and was fouled inside the box.
After a VAR check, Toney held his nerve to slot the penalty into the corner and score his first goal for England on his debut. Things seemed to get better for England when Jarrod Bowen scored from close range in the second phase from a corner kick, but this time VAR was not on their side.
The West Ham striker was offside from the knock-on and was denied his first goal for England. A mistake by Lewis Dunk gave the ball to Romelu Lukaku, who crossed for Tielemans to make it 2-1 and draw some attention off Pickford at the other end – and Southgate is unlikely to worry.
The England manager described Pickford as “a really important player for us” last November and has shown great loyalty to him. The Everton goalkeeper was their first-choice goalkeeper for six years, despite never being at a club playing in European football. His finest moment came with a heroic penalty shootout against Colombia in 2018, and he was an ever-present when the Three Lions reached the Euro 2020 final.
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