England player ratings vs New Zealand with one 8/10 as Henderson impresses | Football | Sport

England played New Zealand in their first of two World Cup warm-up friendlies on a bobbly pitch at the Raymond James Stadium in Florida on Saturday night. Just 11 days before their first Group L opener against Croatia in Texas, Thomas Tuchel selected two entirely different line-ups in each half against the All Whites as he gets his 26-man squad conditioned for the United States heat and humidity.

Tuchel benched some big names for the XI that played in the first half. Elliot Anderson, Nico O’Reilly, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Ezri Konsa are all hoping to start against Croatia but started on the substitutes’ bench here. Playing in 32 degrees Celsius, England faced a New Zealand side who are the lowest-ranked nation at the World Cup and were spanked 4-0 by Haiti earlier this week. And captain Harry Kane finally supplied the first goal of the match in stoppage time after a slow-paced first 45 minutes in Tampa.

Express Sport rates and slates England’s first-half team…

An 83rd cap for the Everton No.1 and a 44th clean sheet, if you can count 45 minutes as a clean sheet. Saved well from a Matt Garbett shot from the edge of the box and one nice pass released Ollie Watkins.

Enjoyed the opportunity to push high up and saw a fair amount of the ball but was a bit one-footed at times. Kane failed to anticipate one inventive Quansah pass into the six-yard box that might have led to a goal.

Should have scored with a header from a corner kick. Had acres of space but his effort was weak. Good on the ball, as to be expected. Defensively was rarely called into question. Will he start over Konsa vs Croatia?

Matched Chris Woods physically in one attack inside the box. Was never really threatened by the Nottingham Forest striker and was nice and progressive in possession.

Was wearing a Hannibal Lecter-esque protective chin mask after breaking his jaw last month. Won all of his duels and looked good going forward. Showed lovely footwork to find Rogers in the box before Mainoo fired over then supplied a cracking cross into Kane for the goal. His first ever assist for the Three Lions.

The 35-year-old completed more passes than anybody else and looked good. On his 90th cap here, had a shot blocked early on from a promising position then played a beautiful pass to release Ollie Watkins one-vs-one. Put some threatening balls into the box.

Battling to replace Elliot Anderson in Thomas Tuchel’s first-choice XI. Some nice moments and strong in his ground duels, but squandered a good shooting chance when he curled over the bar from 20 yards.

Fired one shot well over but was nice and busy as he floated around. Didn’t get much chance to affect the scoreline though with Max Crocombe thwarting one Rogers run when he sprinted out to claim a Marcus Rashford cross.

Took corner kicks and should have had an assist when Stones wasted a headed chance. Was England’s most threatening forward, also setting up Kane for a header that was saved and lashing one left-footed shot wide. But the most eye-catching performance of the first half for sure, creating five chances overall.

Started on the right with Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke yet to join the camp after the Champions League final. Got it all wrong after being picked out by Jordan Henderson after a fine run, dragging his shot well wide. A poor cross into Rashford after nicking the ball off Liberato Cacace.

Produced the first shot on target of the match as he tested Crocombe with a dipping long-range strike and forced another good save from a close-range header. Finally broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time when flicking in Spence’s cross for his record-extending 79th England goal. That was one of only two touches inside the box.