After the pain of the European Championship, England began a new era with a 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
It’s 55 days since they lost to Spain in the Euro 2024 final and England have started the Nations League with a new leader following the departure of Gareth Southgate. Caretaker manager Lee Carlsley had an impressive opening game at the Aviva Stadium thanks to first-half goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.
The identity of the two goalscorers was particularly painful for Irish fans, who booed the two players after they decided to play for England after initially representing Ireland.
Carsley, who took over after leading the Under-21s to the European title a year ago, also represented Ireland as a player.
“We showed that we have real talent. We can feel satisfied that we kept a clean sheet,” he said.
Rice, who has three caps for Ireland, gave England the lead after 11 minutes. Grealish represented Ireland at youth level and doubled the lead with a clever pass.
Grealish has been surprisingly left out of Southgate’s Euro 2019 squad.
“There’s no better feeling than playing for England, especially in games like this,” said the winger. “Honestly it was one of the worst summers of my life because you can’t help but see everything that’s happening in front of you.”
New Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson had hoped to spring another surprise against England after leading Iceland to victory over the English at Euro 2016. But although England were unable to build on their superiority after the break, it was a routine victory in Carsley’s first game.
