Kane strikes as Kompany limps off

Harry Kane was on target as England defeated Nigeria 2-1 at Wembley, while Germany and Iceland fell to unexpected defeats against Austria and Norway respectively.

Vincent Kompany limped off as Belgium and Portugal played out a 0-0 draw, while the encounter between Sweden and a Christian Eriksen-less Denmark also ended goalless.

We look at Saturday’s international friendly action from a Fantasy perspective.

England 2-1 Nigeria

Goals from Kane and Gary Cahill capped off a dominant first-half performance from England in London against a poor Nigeria side, who were only stirred into life by a raft of half-time substitutions and Alex Iwobi’s 47th-minute consolation strike.

Gareth Southgate once again stuck with a 3-5-2 formation and both his tactics and starting line-up appear to be fairly settled, with Jordan Henderson the only definite starter missing from yesterday’s XI. Gary Cahill and Ashley Young were Southgate’s preferred options at centre-half and left wing-back respectively at Wembley, though Harry Maguire and Danny Rose remain strong candidates for those two positions going forward.

Kyle Walker once again started at centre-half alongside Cahill and John Stones, while Kieran Tripper patrolled the opposite flank to Young.

England’s midfield three comprised of Eric Dier, Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli, with Raheem Sterling supporting Harry Kane in attack.

It was Southgate’s two wing-backs who assumed the bulk of the set-piece duties, with Tripper providing the assist for Cahill’s headed opener from a corner-kick.

Sterling picked up the assist for Kane’s 39th-minute strike and looked lively throughout, though was on occasion wasteful and picked up a booking for simulation.

Southgate hinted that Jordan Pickford is likely to get the nod over Nick Pope and Jack Butland between the sticks in England’s opening group fixture against Tunisia.

Odion Ighalo grabbed the assist for Iwobi’s strike for Nigeria, who fielded a near full-strength team in a 4-2-3-1 formation before adapting to match England’s 3-5-2 in the second half.

England XI: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Cahill, Trippier, Dier, Lingard (Loftus-Cheek 67), Alli (Delph 82), Young (Rose 68), Kane (Welbeck 73), Sterling (Rashford 73)

Nigeria XI: Uzoho, Shehu (Ebuehi 46), Troost-Ekong, Balogun (Omeruo 46), Idowu, Onazi (Etebo 46), Obi (Ogu 46), Iwobi, Mikel, Moses (Musa 63), Ighalo (Iheanacho 77)

Austria 2-1 Germany

Manuel Neuer made his long-awaited return from injury as an experimental Germany side crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Austria in a sodden Klagenfurt.

The match nearly didn’t go ahead, with kick-off delayed by 105 minutes due to heavy rain.

Germany’s defeat left them winless in 2018, with only one remaining friendly to contest (against Saudi Arabia on 8 June) before they head to Russia.

Neuer hadn’t featured in a match since breaking his foot while playing for Bayern Munich in September 2017 and was given the chance to prove his fitness by coach Joachim Low, who was missing several regulars in his starting XI.

Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Joshua Kimmich and Jonas Hector all did feature from the start, however, in Low’s 4-2-3-1 set-up. Freiburg striker Nils Petersen was handed his Germany debut up front, meanwhile.

Ozil capitalised on a goalkeeping error to give Germany a half-time lead, but the hosts punished a shaky second-half performance by the reigning World Cup champions to beat their neighbours for the first time in 32 years.

With the likes of Toni Kroos, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng and Thomas Muller still to come into the side, Low’s line-up against Saudi Arabia on Friday should provide more clues as to his favoured XI.

Germany XI: Neuer, Kimmich, Sule, Rudiger, Hector, Khedira (Rudy 45), Gundogan (Goretzka 56), Brandt (Werner 67), Ozil (Draxler 76), Sane (Reus 67), Petersen (Gomez 76)

Belgium 0-0 Portugal

A largely forgettable match in Brussels was notable most for Vincent Kompany’s 55th-minute departure, the Manchester City captain limping from the field after suffering a groin strain. The injury-plagued centre-back will be further assessed today.

Roberto Martinez’s side looked very close to full strength, with Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen lining up alongside Kompany in a 3-4-2-1.

Kevin De Bruyne and Mousa Dembele were selected as the double-pivot in midfield, with Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens supporting Romelu Lukaku in attack.

Lukaku looked short of sharpness and was replaced by Christian Benteke at the break, but the Manchester United striker was not alone in flattering to deceive in an insipid Belgian performance.

Portugal, missing Cristiano Ronaldo after his Champions League exploits, similarly lacked much of an attacking threat but would be content with a solid defensive display ahead of their World Cup opener against Spain.

Coach Fernando Santos opted for his favoured 4-4-2 formation, with Jose Fonte getting the nod alongside Pepe at centre-back. Goncalo Guedes joined the attack in Ronaldo’s absence.

Belgium XI: Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany (Boyata 55), Vertonghen, Meunier, De Bruyne, Dembele (Fellaini 45), Carrasco (Chadli 45), Mertens (Januzaj 45), E Hazard (T Hazard 80), Lukaku (Benteke 45)

Portugal XI: Beto, Soares, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro, Martins (Quaresma 63), Moutinho (Borges Fernandes 87), Carvalho, Joao Mario (Fernandes Fernandes 72), Bernardo Silva (Valente Silva 78), Guedes (Silva Duarte 90+3)

Sweden 0-0 Denmark

There was another unforgettable encounter in Stockholm as the two Scandinavian rivals played out a dour goalless draw.

Sweden failed to register a single shot on target, despite fielding a strong team that included expected World Cup starters Ola Toivonen, Emil Forsberg and Victor Lindelof in coach Janne Andersson’s tried-and-tested 4-4-2.

Christian Eriksen was missing from the Denmark squad as he attended the birth of his first child, though the Danes were otherwise at full strength in manager Age Hareide’s favoured 4-3-3 formation: Michael Krohn-Dehli, filling in for Eriksen, is the obvious fall guy when the Tottenham Hotspur playmaker returns.

Sweden XI: Olsen, Krafth (Lustig 74), Lindelof, Granqvist (Jansson 46), Olsson, Durmaz (Larsson 83), Hiljemark, Ekdal (Svensson 46), Forsberg, Berg (Rohden 65), Toivonen (Thelin 65)

Denmark XI: Schmeichel, Dalsgaard, Kjaer (Vestergaard 63), Christensen, Larsen, Kvist, Delaney, Poulsen (Fischer 77), Krohn-Dehli (Schone 60), Sisto (Braithwaite 46), Jorgensen (Dolberg 73)

Mexico 1-0 Scotland

A much-altered Mexico side produced a dominant display in their narrow victory over an inexperienced Scottish team, with coach Juan Carlos Osorio using the match as an opportunity to field players struggling for form or fitness before deciding on his final 23-man squad.

Osorio made eight changes from the side that drew 0-0 with Wales, with Javier Hernandez among those to drop out.

Giovani dos Santos strengthened his case for inclusion with the only goal of the game, but Mexico could and should have had several more: Miguel Layun and Hirving Lozano both hit the woodwork for the hosts, while Oribe Peralta had an effort disallowed for offside.

The Mexicans looked a real attacking threat against admittedly limited opposition in a young Scotland side, registering 32 attempts on goal and having 64% of the possession.

Mexico XI: Ochoa, Alvarez, Ayala, Salcedo (Marquez 45), Gallardo, Layun, Herrera (Fabian 58), Vela (Aquino 63), G dos Santos (Peralta 57), Lozano (Corona 73), Jimenez (J dos Santos 57)

Iceland 2-3 Norway

Gylfi Sigurdsson made his return from injury as Iceland slipped to defeat in Reykjavik.

The Everton midfielder had been out since March with a knee problem and scored off the bench on his comeback, with Alfred Finnbogason also on target from the spot.

Three goals conceded against a Norwegian side who failed to qualify for the World Cup will be of huge concern to coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, particularly as Iceland were near to full-strength.

Joshua King’s equalising goal at 2-2 came from a horrendous error by back-up goalkeeper Frederick Schram.

Iceland XI: Schram, Saevarsson, Arnason, R Sigurdsson (Ingason 45), Magnusson, Berg Gudmundsson, Bjarnason (Gudmundsson 88), Hallfredsson (Fridjonsson 83), Gislason (Skulason 64), Bodvarsson (G Sigurdsson 63), Finnbogason (Sigurdarson 45)