After an hour-long delay due to a torrential downpour, England defeated Costa Rica 3-0 in front of a crowd of 20,341 at Inter&Co Stadium.
Read more Letters: Sentinel sets the standard | Religious liberty at risk | ‘No’ on property tax cut
“(It) was amazing conditions in hindsight. It was good for us to have a bit of a delay, so we could even adapt to that and see if it affects us,” England manager Thomas Tuchel said. “The group was amazing. We were not distracted, we didn’t lose our focus, and we had an excellent and determined performance from start to finish.”
Declan Rice opened the scoring for the Three Lions in the 9th minute. Anthony Gordon played a low pass into the box, and Rice’s shot was deflected past Costa Rica goalkeeper Patrick Sequeira for a 1-0 lead.
England thought it earned a penalty right before halftime when Gordon was brought down in the box. After a VAR review, referee Katja Koroleva determined it was not a foul and England went into halftime with only a one-goal advantage.
A second penalty was awarded in the second half, with Gordon stepping up to take this one. He fired his shot into the top left corner to make it 2-0 in the 68th minute. Abraham Madriz, who came on for Sequeira in the 62nd minute when the starting goalkeeper was injured, guessed the wrong way and was unable to save it.
Read more DeSantis signs death warrant for South Florida killer of 18-year-old woman
Ollie Watkins scored a third for England in the 87th minute to put the game to bed. Morgan Rogers whipped in a shot from long range, but Madriz got a hand to it. His save deflected right into the path of Watkins who headed it home.
“I felt today the energy in the stadium was amazing, and I thought if we can really play like this and grow into the tournament and have this kind of cohesion and brotherhood and team spirit that we showed today, then we will have an amazing connection with the fans,” Tuchel added. “And then this will hopefully be an amazing experience.”
Costa Rica’s players now head home for the summer, while England heads to Kansas City, where it will be based for the World Cup before taking on Croatia (June 17), Ghana (June 23), and Panama (June 27) in the Group Stage.
Read more Florida Supreme Court keeps new congressional districts in place