VOLGOGRAD, Russia, June 18 -- An early goal and an injury-time header from captain Harry Kane gave England a 2-1 victory against Tunisia in their opening World Cup game in Group G on Monday.
England, playing a 3-5-2 formation, launched fast attacks from the very beginning, making attempts at the goal two times within the first five minutes.
In the 11th minute, Kane broke the deadlock. Ashley Young swung in a corner from the left and John Stones nutted a header towards the top-left corner. Tunisia's goalkeeper Mouez Hassen clawed the ball out only to push it to Kane, who crisply tapped the rebound home.
Just three minutes after England's goal, Tunisia's goalkeeper Mouez Hassen was forced off by injury and Farouk Ben Mustapha replaced him.
Tunisian did not have their first chance until the 26th minute. Ferjani Sassi flashed a shot wildly across goal.
A penalty was awarded to Tunisia in the 33rd minute as England defender Kyle Walker pushed Fakhreddine Ben Youssef down in the box. After two minutes Ferjani Sassi struck the penalty into the bottom right corner to level the score.
Despite England players' continuous fierce attacks, they failed to score in the rest of the first half.
Admitting that England "played really well" during the first 45 minutes, Harry Kane also thought England should have seized more opportunities. "In the first half, it felt good out there. We could've scored two or three goals in the first half and put the game to bed early," he said.
Paces slowed down in second half and England created a few chances. However, the efforts of the Three Lions didn't pay off in face of a strong Tunisian defense.
England got a free kick opportunity in the 79th minute while Ashley Young's shot went over the bar.
In the 91 minute, Kane scored his second of the game with a well-placed header from close range which made England seal the victory.
The England captain hailed his teammates' performance. "We are proud of each other and in a World Cup you are not sure how it is going to go, but we have a great togetherness and are always proud to see it come off in the game. We never panicked, never looked like conceding another one and got what we deserved in the end," he said.
Tunisia coach Nabil Maaloul expressed his disappointment on the last-minute goal from England.
"If we were to get a draw it would have been an excellent result for us," he said. "But hopefully this will lead to higher levels of concentration in the coming games."
FIFA statistics showed that England made 17 attempts at the goal throughout the match, while Tunisia made 6. Ball possession was 60 percent for England and 40 percent for Tunisia.
Tunisia's goalscorer Sassi thought his team deserved better result. "We played a good match defensively. We played with five in defense during the second half which helped us to close the spaces. We will do everything against Belgium to win the three points," he said.
Monday's match marks the two teams' second clash at World Cup which a total of 41,064 spectators attended at the 45,000-seat Volgograd Arena.
Tunisia will play against Belgium in their next game on June 23 while England will take on Panama one day later.
让生活充满爱
对林毅夫新结构经济学的三个思考(凯闻)
睁大自己的眼睛
Something worth thinking about
荷香万顷
英国将坚持紧缩至2018年
彼得雷乌斯就美驻利比亚领馆遇袭在国会作证
美国政府暂停与英国石油公司签订新合同
贝多芬经典情书
苹果CEO库克:将重新在美国生产Mac电脑
数字时代的零售业
外套流行超大号
克里姆林宫如何“摆平”寡头?
华硕欲挑战苹果在平板市场的冠军地位
适应力的故事
美国市政债面临重大评级下调风险
让骨髓活检不再痛苦的发明
德银遭前员工投诉
一个公关人的商旅心得
案例研究:温州的地下融资链
朝鲜火箭试射可能因大雪而延迟
FT社评:意大利需要蒙蒂
微保险Naya Jeevan:让更多巴基斯坦人病有所医
追忆似水年华
欧洲地产业发债量创纪录
I Try to Remember
塔利班袭击北约联军驻贾拉拉巴德基地
SEC主席夏皮罗将离任 留下权力真空
重访乌兹别克斯坦“丝绸之路”
叙利亚全国互联网中断
| 不限 |
| 英语教案 |
| 英语课件 |
| 英语试题 |
| 不限 |
| 不限 |
| 上册 |
| 下册 |
| 不限 |