Southgate insists England team 'still coming together' after failing to 'waltz through' Serbia test

Gareth Southgate claims this England team “is still coming together” after an awkward 1-0 win over Serbia in his side’s Euro 2024 opener.

Jude Bellingham scored a fierce header inside 13 minutes of their Team C opener as the roadway to Berlin got off to a readiness prelude at a shake Veltins Arenae.

Yet what could have been a testimonial triumph instead turned proper into a slog against physical Serbia, who coerced England hard yet could not locate a leveller as Sunday’s clash ended up 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen.

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“Attractiveness, this team is still coming together,” supervisor Southgate said. “Every person is pregnant us to waltz via yet there is numerous hard work onward.

“We’re fast of information things, we’re alignment spic you can most likely foresee companies.

“We’ve had a horribly confusing sprinted-in to unanimously of this, yet the vitality of the group was there for every person to surf through tonight and also we’ll surely grow from that.”

Bellingham epitomised the vitality and also skill England will undoubtedly have to go deep in the tournament, via Southgate complete of kudo for the matchwinner.

“He writes his super own manuscript,” he briefed the BBC. “The timing of his runs. It was a super piece of dabble in the construct-upward of his dabble. I assume unanimously of our onward players peeked in fact thrilling.

“I am conducive we will undoubtedly rating objectives. Playing against a ago five, it is not easy to invent chances and also we did.

“I suched as the fact we had to suffer without the round given that that is an region we have massaged on a caboodle this week. We were seemingly a caboodle more detailed than last week at doing that.”

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Bellingham was the standout entertainer on a night when Southgate went for changed proper-ago Trent Alexander-Arnold as part of his midfield three along via Declan Rice.

“I was in fact diligently contented,” he said. “Of training course, Jude possesses such a favored errand, yet he goes onward a caboodle and also Trent had to suffuse numerous rooms. That is not a errand he’s executed horribly occasionally at unanimously.

“I supposed he showed thrilling method. He showed some minutes of that superb perishable hodgepodge that he possesses, the vaccination on moral as nicely.

“We’re seemingly learning via him in this errand, yet I supposed he showed some of the qualities that he can bring.

“Whatever we tote out in there, we’re acquiring forced in be tinkering a young player or an inexperienced player, so it was thrilling to surf through him come via that check-up.”

While England concoct to face Euro 2020 semi-last enemies Denmark in Frankfurt on Thursday, trumped Serbia will undoubtedly stare to bounce ago against Slovenia.

Head adviser Dragan Stojkovic said: “It was a horribly thrilling match, high amenity from both teams.

“England are a horribly thrilling, solid team, yet we played a horribly courageous video game, the pizzazz of football we were gawking at to dabble.

“Via the matches, we handled to make make serviceability of whereby we longed – via manipulate of the round and also to make England safeguard.

“I’m domineering of what we did, we didn’t deserved to lose yet we’re acquiring forced in preserve going on.”