DT England won 3rd place in the UEFA Nations League 2018-2019 final after defeating Switzerland in a match at Estadio D. Afonso Henriques ( Guimaraes, Portugal). The two sides drew 0-0 after 120 minutes before the "Three Lions" won 6-5 in the penalty shootout.
Pickford transforms into a hero again
In the 1/8 round of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, England had to determine the winner against Colombia with kicks from a distance of 11 m. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford successfully blocked Carlos Bacca's kick. Thereby, he contributed to helping DT Anh win with a score of 4-3 in this penalty shootout.
A year later, in Portugal, Pickford proved their worth in the most optimistic moment in the UEFA Nations League third-place match. He shot accurately in the 5th match of the England team. The Everton goalkeeper then blocked Drmic's shot in Switzerland's 6th shot.
Thanks to that, Pickford became the first goalkeeper to do both for England in an official tournament.
On the other side of the front line, goalkeeper Yan Sommer also had a successful match. He made 7 saves for the Swiss goalkeeper. If it were not for his excellence, coach Vladimir Petkovic and his team could have lost sooner.
Sterling's misfortune
Sterling finished in many different ways in this match. However, Man City's strikers have missed consecutive chances. This is in contrast to the runs, being present at the right time to score at club level. That ability has helped Sterling score 17 goals in the 2018-2019 Premier League.
Sterling's misfortune also partly reflects England's bad luck. They hit the opponent's goal 4 times in 120 minutes.
The problem of the "Three Lions" full-backs
Ben Chilwell in the semi-final and then Danny Rose in the third-place match did not play well at left-back for England. Meanwhile, on the opposite wing, coach Gareth Southgate has 2 quality players: Kyle Walker and Alexander-Arnold.
After Walker came on as Danny Rose in the 70th minute, he and Alexander-Arnold continued to flip wings for each other. Doing so is clearly not a long-term solution.
Along with that, Alexander-Arnold continued to maintain the good form he had in the Liverpool shirt throughout last season. He can launch quality crosses whether playing on the right wing or the left wing. Alexander-Arnold has created at least 3 clear scoring opportunities for his teammates.
