Kyle Walker is relishing England’s so-called friendly against Scotland after the long-serving right-back scored a goal he will remember for the rest of his life.
The 33-year-old made his senior debut in a friendly against Spain in November 2011 and has gone on to feature in four major tournament squads for his country.
But for all of Walker’s work it was not until Saturday evening in Poland that the Manchester City right-back was able to celebrate scoring an international goal on his 77th appearance.
The full-back raced behind and met a fantastic Harry Kane pass with a similarly impressive touch, before coolly cancelling out Ukraine captain Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener in Wroclaw.
“Obviously to have 76 caps and not score a goal, it was playing on my mind a little bit,” Walker said after the 1-1 draw in Euro 2024 qualification.
“Just a lot of people were saying ‘you’ve played all these times’ and Harry Kane has been giving me a bit of banter, saying he’ll give me a penalty before I finish.
“But, listen, to get the goal, to help the team at the other end of the field was good.
“You know H likes to play them balls in behind and I just made the run.
“We do that at City where once the ball goes back, you make the in behind run.
“Harry’s made a great ball and picked me out. I think the touch has set it up because I’d probably have been looking to square it someone (otherwise).
“The touch felt good and it was a goal that I’ll remember definitely for the rest of my life.”
England were below par in Poland but it remains a case of when rather than if they wrap up qualification for next summer’s Euros.
Preparations for Germany continue with a first friendly game in 18 months on Tuesday evening, albeit the trip to old foes Scotland at Hampden Park is sure to have some bite to it.
Asked if there can ever be a friendly against Scotland, Walker told Sky Sports: “No, definitely not.
“I love playing in them games, especially just with everything behind it, with what they bring, their crowd and everything like that.
“Hopefully we can go there and have a good performance.
“They’ve had some good recent results so it’s going to be a tough game.
“The last time we went there we managed to scrape a draw in the last couple of minutes with Harry.
“So hopefully we can go there, put a good performance on, but it’s never going to be a friendly.”
Kane’s stoppage-time goal secured a 2-2 draw on England’s last trip to Scotland in 2017.
Walker was still a Tottenham team-mate of the striker at that point and it was widely reported this summer that the pair could have linked back up at Bayern Munich.
Kane moved to the Bundesliga but the 33-year-old has stayed with treble winners City, where his current deal expires at the end of the season.
“I have an obligation to fulfil my contract,” Walker said. “Obviously things haven’t gone for whatever way. Whichever way you want to look at it, it’s not happened.
“But I’m a Manchester City player. I want to stay at this club for as long as possible.
“But I need to do what’s right for me personally first and that’s stay at the top for as long as possible because there’s a lot of ex-players who’ve told me once you starting coming down it is difficult.
“So, if I can fulfil this season and many more hopefully at Manchester City that would be fantastic.”
Palmer will become one of the world's best players, predicts Cucurella
Cole Palmer will be among the very best players in the world if he continues on his current trajectory, believes the forward's Chelsea team-mate Marc Cucurella.
Palmer enjoyed a magnificent debut campaign in 2023-24 after swapping Manchester City for Stamford Bridge, with his 33 Premier League goal involvements (22 goals, 11 assists) the most of any player.
After impressing for England at Euro 2024 – where he came off the bench to score in their 2-1 final defeat to Spain – Palmer has picked up where he left off this term, registering 11 goal contributions (six goals, five assists) to once again lead the charts.
He became the first player in Premier League history to score four goals before half-time in a single game versus Brighton and Hove Albion in September, when he scooped the competition's Player of the Month award.
Palmer also won England's Player of the Year award for last campaign and Cucurella, who was a key part of the Spain team that defeated the Three Lions in Berlin, believes he is destined for the very summit.
"If you see him not in his kit you would never in your life say he was a footballer, but then on the pitch... he shoots and it doesn’t seem like he is hitting it hard but he scores," Cucurella said in an interview with The Guardian.
"He's very different. I don't know how to explain it: he's special. We’re very lucky we have him.
"We [Spain] are lucky he didn’t play much in the Euros either because he came on and almost messed it up for us.
"If he carries on like this, he'll be among the best. He doesn't have much strength in the air, but if that’s his only problem, then he's all right."
Chelsea are unbeaten in six Premier League games since going down 2-0 to champions City on matchday one, with boss Enzo Maresca winning the competition's Manager of the Month prize for September.
Though it is still early days for the Italian coach, Cucurella says the Blues have lofty ambitions under him.
"Our objective has to be to win a trophy," he said. "In the Conference League we can do something good, and the cups.
"Arsenal and City have been working in the same way for many years, the same idea, the same players, and I think we’re a bit far away from that.
"Liverpool too because it's been the same players. But we can get into the Champions League, that's the key objective."
Arsenal 'envious' of Chelsea's WSL dominance, admits McCabe
Arsenal are "envious" of the era of dominance over the Women's Super League enjoyed by rivals Chelsea, admitted Katie McCabe ahead of Saturday's derby between the sides.
Chelsea have won five straight WSL crowns, edging out Manchester City on goal difference last season to give Emma Hayes a triumphant send-off before she joined the United States.
Now under the stewardship of former Lyon boss Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea are the only team in the WSL with a perfect record this term, winning their opening two matches before seeing last week's clash with Manchester United postponed.
Arsenal, on the other hand, have already played out home draws with Man City and Everton, ramping up the pressure ahead of Saturday's game at the Emirates Stadium.
Asked by reporters how it felt to see Arsenal's rivals dominate year after year, full-back McCabe said: "It always hurts.
"You want that to be you. You are in a team sport to be lifting trophies with your team-mates.
"Of course you are envious of them being successful. What we can do is focus on ourselves and put one foot in front of the other. Hopefully, by the end of the season, that will be us."
While Chelsea approach this weekend's headline fixture as favourites, they were trounced 4-1 in this exact game last December, with Alessio Russo scoring twice in one of just three league defeats the Blues suffered all campaign.
Looking back at that victory, McCabe said: "We take those moments as positives and bring it in and really instil that winning mentality into the team.
"We already did it last year, so it's not a new thing for us. It is about controlling ourselves, controlling our gameplan and what we want to do in the game and applying it."
Chelsea focusing on themselves ahead of Arsenal clash, says Bompastor
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor says the Blues are focusing purely on their own form as they bid to continue their flawless start to her reign against Arsenal.
Taking over from legendary boss Emma Hayes, Bompastor has overseen back-to-back Women's Super League wins over Aston Villa (1-0) and Crystal Palace (7-0).
The Blues saw their matchday three fixture versus Manchester United postponed last week, but a victory over rivals Arsenal in Saturday's lone WSL game would take them top of the table.
Arsenal were tipped as candidates to end Chelsea's five-year reign at the summit of the English game in pre-season, only to draw two of their opening three matches, but Bompastor is not concerned with others' results.
"The players are really focused on themselves and on the team. I just want them to stay focused on the job we have to do. We prepare for every game in such a professional way," Bompastor said.
"For me, Arsenal is no different from the other teams we have been facing, so we focus on ourselves.
"We know what we need to do tomorrow to get a good result and a great performance, that's it. This game is worth three points, the same as the other ones.
"Of course it's a derby, a special game in that way, but it's just three points in the end. We have our ambitions, our goals, and this game will bring three points if we are able to win, that's it. I'm just focused on my team and what we need to do."
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last four home meetings with Chelsea in the WSL (two wins, two draws), but they have not won back-to-back home games against them since June 2013 (a run of three in a row).
They meet a Blues side in fine goalscoring form, winning their last five WSL games by an aggregate scoreline of 23-0 in a run dating back to Hayes' reign, though they have not won six straight league matches without conceding since April 2021.
Bompastor added: "We feel great. We had the last training session this afternoon and the weather was perfect, we really enjoyed it! The team is in a really good dynamic so we feel good.
"We played on Tuesday and we had a good result. We were able to manage the week the way we wanted to and I think we are ready for tomorrow, a big game and a derby."
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