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England player ratings after the Three Lions' shock opening defeat to Greece | Football

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England player ratings after the Three Lions' shock opening defeat to Greece | Football
England suffered a shock defeat at Wembley (Image: Getty)

England's strong start under new interim boss Lee Carsley came to an abrupt halt as the Three Lions suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat to Greece.

Fielding an extremely attacking line-up, England looked vulnerable on several occasions during the break and were ultimately punished when Vangelis Pavlidis fired home in the second half.

Judy Bellingham thought he had scored a dramatic late equalizer to spare England's blushes, but Pavlidis' injury-time winner condemned England to their first competitive defeat at Wembley Stadium in four years and their first ever defeat to Greece.

Here's how to do it Metro.co.uk assessed the performance of each England player.

Jordan Pickford – 4


Jordan Pickford made a big mistake in the first half (Image: Getty)

It was a far cry from his most assured performance in an England shirt. An uncharacteristic error on the ball almost cost England in the first half, but was spared his blushes in the second half when he played the ball into goal which was later ruled out.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6

He showed his excellent passing range, which galvanized England in the first half, but perhaps allowed Pavlidis to get past too easily in the box when the Greek striker opened the scoring.

John Stone – 6

It was not the result he had hoped for when he first captained England. He struggled to score as Greece hammered England at will on the counter-attack.

Levi Colwill – 6

Levi Colwill scored the decisive shot from the goal line (Image: Getty)

He took Pickford out of the game in the first half with a brilliant goal-line strike and was constantly put to the test by a lively, energetic Greek front line.

Rico Lewis – 5

A consistent performance by the young Manchester City player until the final moments when he failed to create a clear result and who will get more chances to show his skills in the coming months.

Declan Rice

He had the difficult task of marshalling the midfield without an established partner and was caught out in transition on several occasions when Greece got ahead.

Cole Palmer – 6

He rejected England's best chance in the first half and struggled to influence the attacking play while playing in a deeper position.

Phil Foden – 5

He's still trying to produce his best football in an England shirt. He was given a freer, more central role today but failed to take a shot and only had two touches in the Greek penalty area before being subbed off.

Bukayo Saka – 4

He had only one shot on goal in the second half and suffered an injury. It was difficult to influence the game when there were so many other attacking players on the pitch.

Judah Bellingham – 7

Jude Bellingham scored a late equalizer (Image: Getty)

He might have been expected to lead the attacking line in Harry Kane's absence, but he was given a much more free role as England's attacking players rotated. At the beginning, he hit the Greek goalkeeper's hands with a strong shot, but he got past Odisseas Vlachodimoslate and equalized England.

Anthony Gordon – 5

A first-half header went off the crossbar and the Newcastle winger came close to making a real impact on the match. He has had other problems and will need to do more to ensure regular minutes when Kane returns.

Substitutes

Noni Madueke (From '52) – 6

Ollie Watkins (Gordon, '60) – 6

Dominik Solanke (Foot, '72) – 5

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