Men's Senior

Debut delight!

Goalscorers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Conor Coady speak of their joy at Wembley strikes

Preview

England goalscorers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Conor Coady reflected on a night to remember at Wembley as their strikes helped the Three Lions to victory over Wales.

Everton hitman Calvert-Lewin was making his first appearance for the Three Lions, while this was only Coady's second start.

And it was their strikes at Wembley which set England on their way to a 3-0 win over Ryan Giggs' side.

“It’s a shame there are no fans here to celebrate it and obviously my family could have been here to celebrate it, but to score on my debut is the stuff of dreams," said Calvert-Lewin.

“I would say so [it’s the best of my ten goals this season] - I’ve worked very hard to get here and it’s felt like a long road but I’m very pleased to be here, get the opportunity and score on my debut.

“I felt comfortable - the lads have welcomed me in and I felt comfortable from the moment I walked through the door. Obviously that helps when you’re stepping onto the pitch when you’re getting to know the lads early doors, so I just went out and the main objective was to enjoy myself.

“I’ll be keeping it [the No.9 shirt] and be putting it on the mantel piece!”

And Coady, who also ended the night with the captain's armband, added: “It was incredible - just on the edge of the box Dominic said to me we’ll swap because me and him were going front and back, and then all of a sudden it came to me and all I had to do was get a contact on it.

“It will live with me forever and I think will be on repeat in my house now with my kids! It’s an amazing night for me.

“It’s an incredible night - the way the lads performed but to score is absolutely amazing.

“I can’t explain it [what it’s like to have captained England] - to play with these players is incredible for me to wear the armband or not, but the feeling of it, everything about playing here at Wembley for England, is just sensational and it’s a night I’ll never, ever forget.

“You want to come and impress and every player wants to come and impress - I want to help the team whenever I’m called upon. If the manager needs me for anything I’m here to help and I’ll make sure I’m ready and give 110 per cent every single time I play for my country.”

PREVIEWS

England boss Gareth Southgate isn’t expecting a typical friendly atmosphere when the Three Lions host Wales at Wembley.

It’s the first of three matches at the national stadium for Southgate’s team in October, as they warm-up for UEFA Nations League clashes with Belgium and Denmark later in the month.

But with Ryan Giggs bringing his charges across the border for our first meeting since the group stage clash at UEFA EURO 2016, Southgate knows it’s going to be very much a derby match.

"There's the two Nations League games from which we want to progress in but first there's a 'friendly' against Wales that will never be a friendly,” he said, with a smile.

"They're on a good run and they've obviously had a look at different players themselves.

“A lot of the experienced players from the EUROs in 2016 where they did so well are now starting to retire, but they've got some exciting young players coming through, a few of whom played for us at junior level so we know a bit about them.

"I think the future for them is very good, but it's difficult to know how they will map the three games in terms of how they will use their squad.

“But whoever they put out, we know they will be driven to win this game and we'll have to be ready.”

It’s England’s first game since their Nations League openers with Iceland and Denmark in September and Southgate is confident he’ll see a step up now his squad have another month of fitness under their belts.

"I think whenever you play for your national team, because of the way we work and because of the intensity that we train at, we carry that into the game so there's a level of performance that's expected when you pull on an England shirt, whatever the title of the fixture,” he added.

"The players demand that of themselves and we demand that as staff.

“We've never had a game since I've been here when we haven't learned things or the level of performance has been a problem because of apathy or disengagement - that's never an issue for us,

"That won't be the case here because there's high motivation for the players that we select to play in that game.”

Previous encounters

England 2-1 Wales
UEFA EURO 2016
16 June 2016
Lens

The Three Lions took the points in our last encounter with the Red Dragons, courtesy of a dramatic late winner from Daniel Sturridge in our group stage game in France.

A Gareth Bale free-kick evaded Joe Hart's grasp to put Chris Coleman’s team ahead in the first half, following a lacklustre display from England.

But the introduction of Jamie Vardy and Sturridge from the bench after the break saw them stage a comeback and qualification for the knockout stages.

It was Wales who had the last laugh that summer though, as they built momentum and went on to reach the semi-finals while Roy Hodgson’s team came home after a shock defeat to Iceland in their first knockout game.

England 1-0 Wales
UEFA EURO 2012 Qualifier
11 September 2011
Wembley Stadium connected by EE

Wales’ last visit to Wembley came just over nine years ago, when Gary Speed’s team were the opposition in a EURO qualifier.

Again, it was a tight game with England sealing the points thanks to a goal from Ashley Young in the first half.

Previously, Fabio Capello's team had beaten Wales in Cardiff in the first meeting by 2-0 after Frank Lampard and Darren Bent had silenced the Millennium Stadium crowd with a first-half double in March 2011.

England 2-1 Wales
International friendly
18 January 1879
Kennington Oval, London

Our first ever meeting with the neighbours came back in 1879, in what was only England’s eighth game.

The Three Lions won that match thanks to goals from Herbert Whitfield and Thomas Heathcote Sorby, while Wales’ solitary strike came from William Henry Davies.

The fixture has been played 102 times, with England winning 67 of them, a draw on 21 occasions and Wales beating us 14 times.

EURO 2020 Qualifying head-to-head