Dream debut for Lee Carsley: The English national football team has made a promising new start under Gareth Southgate’s successor.
The European runners-up deservedly won 2-0 (2-0) in Ireland on the interim coach’s debut in the Nations League, despite a weaker second half. Declan Rice (11th minute) and Jack Grealish (26th), both of whom once wore the Irish jersey, scored.
England’s next opponent in League B is Finland on Tuesday; it will be captain Harry Kane’s 100th international match.
Carsley (50) will initially coach the “Three Lions” in the six Nations League games until the end of the year. It is unclear whether he will be allowed to keep the job on the way to the 2026 World Cup.
Carsley sits on the wrong bench
The previous U21 coach, who won the European Championship title with the “Young Lions” in 2023, began his tenure with a faux pas: he accidentally sat on the Irish bench in Dublin. No wonder: As a professional, Carsley, who was born in Birmingham, played 40 times for Ireland.
The fact that he did not sing the national anthem (“God Save the King”) as announced because he had never done so before caused criticism. On the positive side, his team immediately abandoned the much-maligned sleeper-coach football of the Southgate era, even though stars such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer were absent due to injury.
Insults against the “snakes”
Rice, like Grealish, was booed by the Irish crowd and called a “snake”, but did not celebrate his impressive goal – unlike Grealish, who Rice assisted. Bayern superstar Kane missed a number of chances. The Irish, with Icelander Heimir Hallgrimsson making his debut on the bench, only kept up in phases in the second half.
Also in Group B, Georgia won the duel between the European Championship participants and the Czech Republic 4:1 (1:0). Chwitscha Kwarazchelia (33′, penalty), Giorgi Tschakvetadze (53′), Georges Mikautadze (63′) and Giorgi Kochorashvili (66′) scored for coach Willy Sagnol’s team.
