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Curtis Jones caps England debut with beautiful goal – “I was playing free”

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Not only did Curtis Jones start on his England debut, the in-form Liverpool midfielder marked it with an excellent goal as the Three Lions beat Greece 3-0.

With a host of players pulling out and interim coach Lee Carlsey overseeing his final Games, Jones was one of those to benefit as he started for the first time.

It came in a comfortable win for England with the 23-year-old at the heart of it, starting in a deeper role but operating with the freedom of a box-to-box midfielder.

The first goal came when a flowing move was finished by Ollie Watkins, after Noni Madueke’s pullback – the Chelsea winger easily beating Kostas Tsimikas on the right flank.

Tsimikas forced Jordan Pickford into a brilliant save at his near post after a clever underlapping run, with the goalkeeper required again in the second half.

England’s second came as Jude Bellingham broke through the middle and fired an effort that bounced off the post and in via Odysseas Vlachodimos.

Jones then made it 3-0 in the closing stages, surging forward as substitutes Morgan Gibbs-White and Jarrod Bowen combined before flicking Gibbs-White’s cutback beyond Vlachodimos with his back heel.

It was a big moment for Jones, who was left out of the final squad for the Euros before pulling out of Carsley’s group in October due to the birth of his daughter.

In scoring on his debut, he became the first Liverpool player to do so for England since Sammy Lee in 1982, according to Opta.

Per FotMob, Jones had the most touches (86), completed the most passes (65/68), won the third-most duels (seven) and the joint-most tackles (two) of any player.

“I tried, I tried!” he told ITV Sport when put to him that he made a big impression.

“The lads around helped as well. I just went out there, I was playing free, I had a smile on my face, I was enjoying it and I’m happy that I came away with a goal as well.”

Asked about the freedom in his game, Jones replied: “If you’ve got a team like ours, like that, I can go high, I can come low, I can get on the ball, I can play.

“There’s lads there to help, there’s also lads who said I can go as well. Jude stayed back and I saw I had a chance to go. That’s what I did and luckily enough I scored.”

Also speaking to ITV Sport, Carsley – who coached Jones at U21s level – was full of his praise for his debutant.

“It’s not surprising, Curtis is an outstanding player,” he said.

“I thought he played really well today even without his goal. With his goal, it was an excellent performance, so I’m really delighted for him.”

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