It had all the edge of a pop concert in the stands but England looked ready to steal candy from a baby. The 6,200 Croatian under-14s allowed inside Stadion HNK Rijeka were invited free of charge and this was a priceless footballing experience. England ripped Croatia to shreds to take a firm grip on second place in their Nations League group, boosting their hopes of reaching next year’s quarter-finals, and anyone supporting the home team could at least find consolation in watching Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham combine to devastating effect.
Perhaps the ticket should have come with an adult age rating. This was grisly viewing for the locals but Thomas Tuchel delighted in England’s most complete performance since surging to a 4-2 win over Croatia at the World Cup. Kane marked his 124th cap with his 88th and 89th international strikes and had plenty of help.
Three assists and a goal decorated a scintillating display from Bellingham and Tuchel found satisfaction in the other members of his ruthless front four getting on the scoresheet. England could have had double figures against opponents ranked 13th in the world but they settled for seven. Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka were in lightning, goalscoring form on the flanks and another story was an exceptional full debut from Alex Scott.
The 23-year-old proved that he belongs, impressing with his tenacity and quality on and off the ball, and made it hard to shake off the sense that Tuchel missed a trick by not taking him to the World Cup. One gorgeous, defence-splitting ball from Scott to release Gordon emphasised that this is a player with a big England future. This was the Bournemouth youngster’s second cap and it said much about Tuchel’s belief in Scott that he deployed him against Luka Modric, even if the great Croatia midfielder has seen better days.
The occasion was nowhere near as surreal as when England played here with no supporters present in 2018. It was meant to be behind closed doors again – Uefa had punished Croatia after discriminatory and racist fan behaviour during last year’s Nations League quarter-finals – but the rules allow tickets to go to local children and the constant high-pitched cheers were a reminder that much of the crowd were not alive when Modric first faced England 20 years ago. Tuchel knew youth was on his team’s side.
Modric is 41 and, given that he was accompanied by another old timer in Mateo Kovacic, it not a surprise that Scott and Elliot Anderson, resuming their partnership when England won the Under-21 European Championship last year, dominated. Anderson, Scott and Bellingham were superb. Bellingham, back in the side after being rested during Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Czechia, was still going near the end, sending the England substitute Morgan Rogers through to make it 7-0.
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