IT WAS billed as the final mock examination for Gareth Southgate’s England team and just as they looked to have pass with flying colours, they were robbed by the screen test.
VAR once again had a part to play in Wembley drama when the lens spotted that James Tarkowski put a rare foot wrong when he planted his boot on Federico Chiesa’s and eventually pointed to the spot. Lorenzo Insigne did the rest.
Until then, Jamie Vardy’s goal had looked to be a winner and England should reassure themselves at the very least there is no sense that the Three Lions should be out of their class in Russia.
A rare sight among fans at Wembley, it is a more common occurrence wherever groups of parents stand and shiver in the cold, cheering on their children on a Saturday morning.
But last night on occasions there was indeed the occasional smile of genuine, almost parental pride. Not least, it has to be said, with the manner of the opening goal.
Of course, Raheem Sterling was fouled, but having somehow kept his footing, he carried on rather than accepting the free-kick that would have been his due. Then he was fouled again and this time the whistle blew.
Instantly, though, Jesse Lingard put the ball down, knocked it into the path of Jamie Vardy and the Leicester man fairly burst the Wembley net in his delight and putting one over the head-scratching Italians.
It’s the sort of quick-witted out-manoeuvring we were all encouraged to try to produce when we were schoolkids, before rolling around for the cameras, a slurp of energy drink, vanish spray and a well-organised defensive wall became the norm. Somehow a very English goal – playing to the whistle, not making a fuss – and great to see.
And there was more. Ashley Young turning round in a circle to wriggle out of play on the touchline rather than finding row Z. England attacking late in the first half, four against three – an attack that sadly ended with a tame shot wide.
Sterling, Lingard and Kieran Trippier all arrived into the penalty area and actually looked up. Vardy offered pace in the channels that genuinely looked a threat.
But the schoolboy enthusiasm of Southgate’s young team was never going to completely mask the danger of schoolboy errors and, on occasions, little more that petulant brattishness.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain kicking the ball away after conceding a free-kick received the yellow card it will be given in Russia – a worrying lack of discipline ahead of a tournament where these thing will tot up.
Then just before the break, Young scythed through Davide Zappacosta on the touchline in a challenge that could easily be red-carded by an officious tournament referee. Two black marks – serious learning points both of them.
As for the defence, the half-time report had to be must try harder: to keep a grip on the movement of the inappropriately named Ciro Immobile as much as anything. The Italian striker had added some of the class that was perhaps the only ingredient missing from England’s opening-half display.
Young took full advantage of his reprieve by rolling back the years with a marauding run and shot that was well saved and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stung the hands of Gianluigi Donnarumma, the 19-year-old looking to inherit the gloves of the legendary Gianluigi Buffon, with a 20-yard drive.
In between there was the odd lapse of footballing grammar and concentration – Jack Butland knocking a goal kick straight to blue shirt 35 yards from his goal.
The to-ing and fro-ing of substitutions caused the inevitable disruption – Young showing impressively adept at tying up the right flank of the England defence as he had been with the left.
Adam Lallana emerged in a final bid to book a seat on the plane – a season of injury leaving some doubt over one the first names on the check-in list had it been drawn up last summer.
In fairness he had little chance to do himself any favours and will face a series of re-tests every time he pulls on a Liverpool shirt under Southgate’s watchful gaze. Lewis Cook’s cameo looks like being precisely that.
In another nod to schoolboy football, Stones suffered the ignominy of that seemingly regular incident at junior level – a ball kicked straight in his face – signalling the arrival of Jordan Henderson with Dier ending the game in the back three.
Of course, in the end the penalty has to be considered A Minus. Overall, though? A solid B plus.
