International friendlies round up: Kane up and running as Leão sees red | OneFootball

Ollie Whitmore, Chief football news reporter

Numerous nations taking part in this month’s World Cup tournament rounded off their final preparations for the finals beginning next week, with England, Scotland, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, and hosts Unites States all in action.

FromTheSpot takes a look at the scores from around the international friendlies featuring 15 of the final 48 and what the key takeaways are with just five matches remaining until Mexico and South Africa kick things off on the 11th of June.

England 1-0 New Zealand: Kane off the mark

Harry Kane opened his account over the pond with a 67th goal in all competitions as England beat New Zealand in a low key warm-up match, with manager Thomas Tuchel choosing two different line ups either side of half time to get his squad match fit.

Marcus Rashford looked lively during his 45 minutes on the pitch and the most likely to score first, yet Kane – often dropping very deep to receive the ball – rose highest to head home Djed Spence’s curling cross from the right.

Having won La Liga on loan at Barcelona, Rashford had jetted off to the US to begin his own preparations in the heat before his teammates joined him, save for Arsenal quartet Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke, and Eberechi Eze.

The four were given five days off following the Champions League final and their open-top bus parade the following day in celebration of their Premier League triumph, and are set to arrive at England’s camp in Kansas City in the coming hours.

It appears that Tuchel could utilise Kane in a very similar way to Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany, who led the German giants to yet another Bundesliga title with the England captain scoring a remarkable 36 league goals.

Portugal 2-1 Chile: Leão sees red in heated altercation

Cristiano Ronaldo got another 46 minutes in the tank as Portugal met expectations with a win over Chile, yet the headlines were firmly set on AC Milan winger Rafael Leao’s sending off in first-half stoppage time.

Leão was seen attempting to strike centre-back Ivan Román with his hand after the defender protested that he was fouled, resulting in the Chilean reacting angrily and both being shown a straight red.

Such sights are rare in friendly matches, and will raise questions of Leao’s character and complete loss of reason and composure as anything close to a repeat could risk a suspension during the finals in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Gonçalo Guedes and Premier League Player of the Season Bruno Fernandes put their country 2-0 up after the heated incident, before Lucas Cepeda of Elche grabbed a goal back in added time.

Bolivia 0-4 Scotland: encouraging signs for Tartan Army

Scotland rounded off their preparations for their first World Cup since 1998 with a dominant victory over Bolivia in New Jersey, scoring four goals in back-to-back friendly matches.

Lawrence Shankland took just five minutes to score the opener, before Scott McTominay and Torino striker Che Adams notched the first of his brace to put their team in cruise control with 15 minutes left of the first half.

Adams rounded off the perfect night at the Sports Illustrated Stadium for Scotland, which will certainly please Steve Clarke given the solid chance his side has of winning their opening match against debutants Haiti next Sunday.

United States 1-2 Germany: Havertz stars against co-hosts

It was a lightening quick start for Julian Nagelsmann’s team against the co-hosts, as Kai Havertz – just as he did against PSG in the Champions League final – was fast out of the blocks and had a goal to his name inside two minutes.

But forward-thinking Fulham wing-back Antonee Robinson found the equalizer through a fantastic volley with eight minutes left of the first half, forcing the Germans to work for the result as Havertz then assisted Leroy Sané to steer his country to victory.

Belgium 5-0 Tunisia: five-star performance from outside favourites

Les Diables Rouges went one better than a routine victory by thumping 10-man Tunisia in their final friendly match before their tournament gets underway against Egypt on the 15th of June.

Fielding a strong side, Leandro Trossard put his country in front just before the half-hour mark for the floodgates to open in the second half as Charles De Ketelaere, Kevin de Bruyne, Dodi Lukébakio, and Nicolas Raskin all found the net.

Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku was instrumental, providing two assists to aid his side to an easy victory in Brussels. Belgium may be outsiders to go all the way, but are certainly a team to keep an eye on from next Friday onwards.

As for their fellow World Cup outfit, the defeat brings to an end a run of one win in four international friendlies since exiting the African Cup on Nations on penalties against Mali in the round of 16.

Their only victory came against World Cup debutants Haiti in March, with the game beyond doubt before Belgium’s third when Ausberg loanee Ismaël Gharbi was shown a second yellow and dismissed two minutes after the hour.

Elsewhere

Panama drew 1-1 with Boznia & Herzagovina in their sixth straight game without a clean sheet and both nations’ final friendly match before getting their World Cup campaigns underway, while Switzerland’s clash with Australia also ended one apiece.

World Cup debutants Haiti lost 2-1 to Peru, while Brazil’s meeting with Egypt and Turkey’s friendly with Venezuela are both still ongoing.