England celebrated their 1000th fixture in style last night by putting on a clinical display of attacking prowess. On a landmark and historic night at Wembley, the young Lions stuck seven without reply past Montenegro. Going behind the scenes at the venue of their most famous win in 1966, we captured the scenes as Harry Kane helped himself to another hat-trick and Tammy Abraham opened his own account.
With England only needing a point to seal automatic qualification to EURO 2020 the Three Lions flew out of the blocks to take a 5-0 lead into half time. Job done. But this night was about more than just the win, it was a celebration of England's footballing history, a tribute to every chapter in the book of this proud footballing nation. And part of that focus was on the 93 black players that have represented the England Senior Men’s team during the 1,000 games, from Viv Anderson as the first black player to represent the England Senior Men’s team in 1978 to Tyrone Mings who earned his first cap against Bulgaria last month.
With an assembly of ex-players in attendance, the current squad put in a ruthless performance to cap off a fine, albeit pretty easy, night's work. Goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marcus Rashford and a Harry Kane hat-trick wrapped things up before the break, before an OG and Tammy Abraham sealed the emphatic win after the restart. For England, that win now means they'll play all three of their EURO 2020 group games at Wembley, and with the semi-finals and final booked in at the national stadium it's all set up to be knocked out in the quarter final in Azerbaijan isn't it? Nah, it's coming home this time. Probably.
Photography by SoccerBible.
