England has five victories over Montenegro but is defeated by racial abuse | Soccer

When they had finished, it was just a shame that Gareth Southgate had more to deal with than the latest evidence showing why England's supporters can trust this team in a way that was not deemed possible there is not so long ago.

They had once again played with freedom and confidence and the opportunity deserved better than being impressed by the primitive "ooh-ooh" slogans that told us that the Montenegrin supporters had decided that there was one last way to attack the victorious players. Black players, with inevitable inevitability.

Ideally, Southgate would have talked more about how his team had come back and the impression left by Callum Hudson-Odoi, at the age of 18, that the newcomer did not suffer from the kind of nerves that would normally have been possible. is waiting for a teenager to make his debut in England.

After all, it's not as if the game was devoid of any other topic of discussion.

Southgate might have liked to revisit Declan Rice's successful introduction to England's starting lineup. It's the night Harry Kane scored the 22nd goal of his career in England, putting him on par with Tommy Lawton and Peter Crouch. Raheem Sterling, the incredible performer of the team, continued his own set of goals. It may also be the night when Ross Barkley, with two goals, started to feel like he could dominate rather than decorate international matches.

In the end, this opportunity will be added to the list of foreign missions in England, where the memories of what happened on the ground are offset by the resulting noises. One of the most depressing aspects is that Montenegro coach Ljubisa Tumbakovic has stated that he is totally unaware of the singing of monkeys and that his media officer has attempted to answer questions on the subject. stating that no one had heard him either. Still, Southgate did it. Sterling felt compelled to hold his ears after scoring England's fifth goal, and the background noise was even louder in stoppage time when Danny Rose was pushed back for a free kick. The FA will address a complaint to UEFA but attending these moments, hearing the stories of photographers directly in front of the stand, recalled that the European Football Federation has never sufficiently taken this issue seriously. Uefa is part of the problem, not the solution.

It's a shame, however, for Southgate and its players to be able to score five goals for the second time in four days and the opportunity to be concealed in this way. When they found themselves behind, after 17 minutes, it was a nervous test. They pbaded this test with distinction and kept control when the night took its sinister edge. Sterling may not have silenced the people who were targeting him but, at the very least, he showed that he would not be deterred from playing a brilliant and incisive football. The image of the night was the celebration of Sterling's goal. "The best way to silence enemies (and yeah, I mean racists)," came his explanation, relayed via his social media accounts.

As for Southgate, he was visibly upset, saying that he would excuse himself if people thought he should have done more, including removing his players from the field. He decided it was not the best option because, according to his previous conversations, he did not think that was what his players would have liked. As always, the manager spoke with great eloquence and feeling, as a person concerned with the image of the game but, most of all, his players and their feelings. He wanted his players to take pleasure in representing England abroad, he said, not to be marked by the experience.

Southgate had warned before the game that the atmosphere could be feverish, but at this point he was not referring to voluble flames of racism. It is certainly hard to think of too many stages where the position behind each goal is covered with a 60-foot-high net, presumably to avoid the kind of scenes that occurred when these teams went off. met in 2013 and that Joe Hart was hit by lighters, coins, pens and rolls of toilet paper. The kind of metal fence that has not been seen in English football for nearly 30 years and the megaphone, precariously standing on a ledge behind the goal goal scored by Sterling, have certainly made racketeering.

That would not have much to do for England's skills, though, if their players were intimidated by a 15,000-seat stadium, where one side of the field was crushed by trees from the adjacent parking lot. The England regained control early and it was certainly a surprise when Michael Keane missed a tackle in his penalty area and Marko Vesovic played in the first goal.

Keane will feel much better to equalize since Barkley's free-kick at half an hour of play, but he should also be perfectly aware of the fact that his first requirement as England's central defender is to stay at home. Away from the opponents – and he did not succeed.

England never again seemed vulnerable and, nine minutes later, Hudson-Odoi, to the left of Montenegro's penalty area, cut two defenders and shot towards the goal. Barkley applied the decisive touch, just in front of the goalkeeper, and England had the lead.

Photo: Chesnot / Getty Images Europe

Barkley 's second goal was hit close to the penalty spot, after Persling' s persistent work on the right, and it was noteworthy that England did not let go for the remainder of the match. On the contrary, it was the period when Sterling, in particular, was the most dangerous.

Sterling, released by Barkley by the ball, placed Kane in a goal to slip, then scored a goal after being released by his replacement Jordan Henderson, who had replaced Dele Alli on his 50th appearance in England. In a way, however, it did not seem like a night to celebrate.