There have been so many times when England were such a tactically flat, stressed-out bunch that they could squeeze the joy out of battering even the meekest opposition, so against Panama you had to rub your eyes at the general levels of fun being had.
This was England as we rarely see them, the game won in the first half, a place in the second round with a match to spare and a general feeling of abandon that anything could happen. Harry Kane notched only the third World Cup hat-trick in English history, and then there was an unfamiliar competence observed on the basics of the game, especially two set-piece goals created for John Stones that demonstrated actual planning.
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia — It was Saturday afternoon on the Volga River when Panama’s coach, Hernan Dario Gomez, offered a scary thought — the next day’s World Cup match against England might prove even more lopsided than his team’s 3-0 loss to Belgium in its first game.
A day later, Panama made its manager look like a seer. Behind three goals from captain Harry Kane, England obliterated Panama, 6-1, on a steamy afternoon here, qualifying for the knockout round with a win that may have said more about how poor an opponent the Three Lions faced rather than how formidable they might actually be as this tournament rolls on.
And yet, there is not a lot more that anyone could have asked of England through its first two matches in Russia, a 2-1 win over Tunisia when the team was sharp everywhere except in front of the opposing goal and Sunday’s defenestration of Los Canaleros that will fill England with confidence as it confronts the World Cup crucible.
“I know how many people were watching at home on a Sunday afternoon,” England’s coach, Gareth Southgate, said when it was over. “Lovely that we could give them so many goals to enjoy.”
Maybe the most frightening thing for England fans, who have supposedly learned to lower their World Cup expectations after so many disappointments, is actually true. Maybe England is really, really good.
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