England’s Euro 2020 campaign in crisis after getting booed off the field

Lacklustre England were denied an early ticket into the Euro 2020 last 16 on Friday as Scotland held their historic rivals to a goalless draw while World Cup finalists Croatia face an uphill task to progress.

Elsewhere, Sweden took a step towards the next round with a 1-0 win over Slovakia and Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen was released from hospital, six days after suffering a cardiac arrest.

England took on Scotland at Wembley for the 100th time in a competitive fixture but for just the second time at a major tournament, 25 years after they met at Euro 96.

Despite having just 2,500 tickets in the crowd of 22,500 limited by coronavirus restrictions, Scottish fans made their presence felt in a sizzling atmosphere in the pouring rain.

England, who beat Croatia 1-0 in their opening match of the tournament, knew victory against their fierce foes would seal their progress with a match to spare.

But Scotland dug deep and gave Gareth Southgate’s side some scares as they sealed a deserved 0-0 draw.

Harry Kane replaced. AFP.Source:AFP

The home side started brightly, with John Stones hitting the post with a header, but lacked fluency and an attacking edge and captain Harry Kane was again peripheral.

The captain was replaced in the second half, leaving manager Gareth Southgate facing the difficult decision of benching his biggest star.

England appeared in crisis at half time when the walked off the pitch to a chorus of boos echoing around the stadium

Lyndon Dykes saw the visitors’ best effort of an impressive second half cleared off the line by Reece James.

“It was a frustrating night, we know we can play better,” England boss Gareth Southgate told ITV. “Got to give Scotland credit, they defended valiantly and played well.

“We didn’t do enough to win the game but after that the thing we have to worry about in tournament football is we had to make sure we didn’t lose it.” Scotland manager Steve Clarke said his team had been “unfairly criticised” after their 2-0 defeat against the Czech Republic on Monday.

“We had chances to win, England had moments as well,” he said. “Looking at this you wouldn’t have known which is the favourite, which is a credit to us.

“The most pleasing thing was we played when we had the ball and created a number of chances.” Earlier, Croatia picked up their first point with a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic in Glasgow but captain Luka Modric was disappointed with his team’s showing.

England’s forward Harry Kane reacts during the UEFA EURO 2020 Group D football match between England and Scotland at Wembley Stadium in London on June 18, 2021. (Photo by Frank Augstein / POOL / AFP)Source:AFP

Czech striker Patrik Schick’s first-half penalty gave him the early lead in the race for the Golden Boot with his third goal of the tournament, but Ivan Perisic’s excellent 47th-minute strike earned Croatia a draw.

However, the 2018 World Cup runners-up will have to beat Scotland on Tuesday and hope other results go their way if they are to reach the knockout rounds.

“There is a bitter taste after this match, as we didn’t win, said Modric. “We entered the match really disorganised.

“We looked better in the second half. We scored that goal and we could have scored even more, but unfortunately we didn’t win. Now, we have to defeat Scotland to go through.” The Czechs and England, who meet on Tuesday, both have four points in Group D, with Scotland and Croatia on one apiece.

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