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As rewards go for perseverance, of both the Wembley faithful and those watching on TV and computer screens, as well as England themselves of course, 93rd-minute winning goals are not the worst. Add in the fact that it was Harry Kane, England captain to score it, and that it qualified unbeaten England for next summer’s World Cup, and it almost makes you forget that sheer boredom of the preceding 90 minutes of England trying and failing to break down the opposition.
But while boring is par for the course when it comes to international football, England were probably just a bit worse than that. Here’s Gareth Southgate with the sobering assessment of his side’s performance in the 1-0 win over Slovenia.
Southgate: "it wasn't the night we wanted or the performance we wanted"
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) October 5, 2017
Then again, it’s international football. A win’s a win and now England are guaranteed to be there next summer. In it to win it!
Gary Cahill played all 90 minutes tonight and was just fine.
Joining England as confirmed qualifiers today were Germany, who beat Northern Ireland 3-1. Antonio Rudiger was an unused substitute.
Andreas Christensen suffered the same fate with Denmark — of being an unused substitute, that is. Denmark are on course to get into the qualification play-offs behind group leaders Poland.
In late-day action, Brazil are currently playing against Bolivia with Willian having just come on from bench in place of Philippe Coutinho.