England's got talent, but errors must be cut out for Euros glory

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AFP London
Last Updated : Sep 11 2019 | 5:50 PM IST

England's abundance of attacking talent has the Three Lions believing they can end a 54-year wait to win a major international tournament next year, when the Euro 2020 final will be hosted at Wembley.

Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho and Harry Kane were in full flow as Kosovo, unbeaten in 15 matches prior to travelling to Southampton on Tuesday, were put to the sword with five goals in 38 first-half minutes.

That took England's tally in four qualifiers to 19 goals with mathematic qualification seemingly a formality.

But there remains plenty for Gareth Southgate to perfect ahead of the European championships as Kosovo became the first visiting side to score three times in a qualifier in England for 12 years as the hosts edged an eight-goal contest 5-3.

"We've been saying international football is dull, that wasn't the case tonight," said Southgate, who did not hold back in criticising a sluggish start to the second-half that saw a 5-1 lead quickly cut to 5-3.

"The small bit after half-time: ridiculous mistakes, poor decisions, lack of covering back, so we made the game really uncomfortable for ourselves."
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"The last two years with my club has been terrific scoring goals and all I have wanted to do is do it on the international stage, not just score goals but score goals that will help my team to win football matches."

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First Published: Sep 11 2019 | 5:50 PM IST

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