England boss Gareth Southgate says he would have been proud of his players’ performance even if they had drawn their World Cup opener against Tunisia. Harry Kane scored twice, including a dramatic injury-time winner, after Ferjani Sassi’s penalty had cancelled out the England captain’s opener.
He added: “I was most proud of the way we kept playing even though the clock was running down. “We stayed patient, and didn’t just throw the ball in the box. “We deserved the win. We were strong on set-plays all night. If we’d drawn, even though it would have made life more difficult for us, I’d have been proud of the performance.”Meanwhile, Dele Alli hopes he will be fit for Sunday’s game against Panama after going off in the 80th minute with a quad injury. He seemed set to come off in the first half, with Fabian Delph ready to replace him, but managed to play for most of the game.
“Hopefully I am OK,” said the midfielder. Southgate said: “He was feeling a little bit of an issue just before half-time, but he felt he could carry on and I thought the runs that he was making and the way he was pressing the ball were still causing a problem.”