THE NOTEBOOK: England’s Skopje pitch concerns were justified, coins and keys were confiscated at the gate – and Kyle Walker became Gareth Southgate’s 12th captain… but can you name the other 11?
- North Macedonia 1-1 England: Three Lions end Euro 2024 qualifying unbeaten
- Enis Bardhi scores rebound after penalty save but England level with own goal
- Trent and Bellingham can play together but can’t get in each other’s way – IAKO
England suffered a frustrating conclusion to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign as they were held to a scrappy 1-1 draw by North Macedonia in Group C on Monday.
With qualification long since secured and just a draw needed to seal a top seeding for next year’s finals, England trailed to Enis Bardhi’s 41st-minute rebound effort after his penalty was saved.
Gareth Southgate’s group winners hogged possession but lacked fluency and invention against dogged hosts and needed an own goal by Jani Atanasov to get them level on the hour.
Jack Grealish had earlier seen a goal ruled out while teenager Rico Lewis had a debut he will want to forget after harshly being penalised for North Macedonia’s penalty.
Mail Sport’s Craig Hope covers some of the talking points that you may have missed from the Skopje encounter.
England midfielder Declan Rice twice came unstuck on a pudding of a pitch in Skopje
Kyle Walker became the 12th players to be named captain by England boss Gareth Southgate
Rice comes unstuck
Much was made of the state of the newly-laid pitch on the eve of the game. Turns out the concerns were justified.
Twice early on Declan Rice peered down at gaping divots and shook his head after losing the ball.
At least the dressing-room floor had no holes in it, which was not the case here in 2003, when the likes of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney – scorers in a 2-1 win – had to get changed on a rota basis because of the damaged away-team quarters.
Southgate’s 12 captains
No England manager has named more captains than Gareth Southgate, and Kyle Walker was his 12th (the 126th in total).
Stop reading now and see if you can name Southgate’s dozen before we do…
Wayne Rooney, Gary Cahill, Joe Hart, Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Fabian Delph, Raheem Sterling, Kieran Trippier, Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford and Walker.
Honour for ‘Elvis of the Balkans’
The National Arena Todor Proeski is named after one of Macedonia’s greatest musical exports. Sadly, Todor Proeski – known as ‘The Elvis Presley of the Balkans’ – was killed in a car crash aged just 26 in 2007.
The re-naming of the national stadium in his honour displaced King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.
And such was the affection for Proeski here, he was even given a state funeral.
England supporters were forced to give up their coins and keys at the gate on Monday night
England fans out of pocket
England fans found that all coins were confiscated at the gate.
That may seem harsh, until you consider that even two pocketfuls of change could only be worth a maximum of five pounds – 70 denar equates to £1 and, in three days here, I’m yet to see a coin of any more than 20 denar.
Keys were also taken from supporters. Now that could be more problematic, especially as many were staying in local Air BnB properties.
With temperatures dipping to 2C at kick-off, you wouldn’t fancy a night on the streets either, not with the packs of stray dogs for company.
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