England didn’t get the result they wanted against Brazil in their first test before the Euros.
Brazil entered the game on the back of three straight defeats, and England were unbeaten in 21 games, but a single goal from the 17 year old Endrick was enough to end that run and raise some question marks in the England camp.
It shows that you can never underestimate any Brazil team, as they live and breathe football so there is really no such thing as a weak Brazil team. Even if you dominate possession against Brazil they can hurt you with a moment of brilliance. Endrick is heading to Real Madrid soon to join Rodrygo and Vini Jr, and has already been tipped to be one of Brazil’s next stars, but England will feel they should have defended better to prevent the goal.
England’s defence is usually very solid and one of their advantages in recent tournaments that has helped them go to the final and semi-finals, so this is something Southgate will need to make sure is watertight ahead of the Euros.
They came back late on in their second warm up against Belgium, with Bellingham scoring deep into stoppage time which has become a regular sight in La Liga this season. Bellingham might just be the man England look to if they need a goal late on at Euro 2024.
Another interesting result was France’s defeat to Germany. On paper France have one of the strongest sides heading into the Euros, but Germany got the better of them, with Florian Wirtz scoring the fastest-ever Germany goal after just 8 seconds.
It would have been the fastest goal ever scored in International football, but amazingly earlier on that same day the record was topped by Austria’s Christoph Baumgartner who scored in just six seconds.
It was only Germany’s third win in 11 games, but the second consecutive win over France, giving them a boost ahead of the Euros. France did win their second test against Chile, but had to come from behind and did concede another two goals which highlights that they might have some vulnerabilities at the back.
Another shock result came when Colombia beat Spain 1-0, which was Spain’s first defeat in a friendly since 2016 and Comombia’s first ever win against Spain.
Of course these games are friendlies so teams are testing and tweaking but the results can have an impact on the mood and momentum of teams as they head into tournament mode. #mmlove