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Liam Kelly reflected on the “best moment” of his life after eventually making his Scotland debut in the 4-1 defeat by France in Lille on Tuesday night. The 27-year-old Motherwell goalkeeper was first called up to the senior squad four years ago and had to patiently await his chance, which came when Steve Clarke rested number one Angus Gunn and started with Kelly before bringing on Hearts keeper and fellow debutant Zander Clark at the interval. It was a sore night for the Scots however, despite taking an early lead through Billy Gilmour’s first goal in senior football. France defender Benjamin Pavard scored twice with headers as a star-studded home side fought back. Skipper Kylian Mbappe added a third from the spot before the break and substitute Kingsley Coman hammered a fourth past Clark in the 70th minute to seal a convincing friendly win for the superior hosts. “The best moment of your life, isn’t it?” said Kelly when asked about his first appearance for his country. “I played for every age group with Scotland up until now and I have been in a lot of squads along with big Zander so I was just delighted to get that moment eventually. “I’m so grateful to the manager to get that chance and I am delighted for big Zander as well because we have been in this together from the start. “During the game you can’t think about anything else or else you get punished, so maybe now and over the next few days it will start to sink in a wee bit but yes, the best moment of your life playing for your country. “Me and Zander have been in the squad a long time, you take any chance you can get. “As I said I am really grateful to the manager to give me that chance. As a kid you always dream of that moment and it was a great feeling and a special occasion as well Zander Clark “He didn’t have to do it, he could have played big Angus again so I am over the moon and thankful he gave me that opportunity. “I think I done OK in the game so it all went to plan, apart from the scoreline.” Clark, 31, was similarly delighted to make his debut as replacement for long-time buddy Kelly. He said: “As a kid you always dream of that moment and it was a great feeling and a special occasion as well. “I am buzzing for Liam as well, I have known him since we were kids and a lot of hard work has gone into it. “For us to get the first on the same night is a special moment. “It was tough, they had stars all over the place. “But we had good spells and a great finish by Billy and it was unfortunate to come away with such a heavy defeat but pleased with the effort we put in.” Read More South Africa’s Handre Pollard expecting to face ‘ruthless’ England in semi-final Four out of five players want more done to keep them safe on the pitch Leeds sign Salford duo Brodie Croft and Andy Ackers on three-year deals Australian cricketers go into bat for netballers with ‘fighting fund’ Gareth Southgate savours win and says England are ‘capable of winning’ Euro 2024 Michael O’Neill wants Shea Charles to learn from dismissal on frustrating night

In the celebratory aftermath of England’s qualification for Euro 2024, Jude Bellingham was in little mood to qualify his opinion. The Real Madrid midfielder just went out and said how Gareth Southgate’s side deserved the win over Italy because they were the “much better” team. There was no diplomacy there, just a striking stridency. It created a very different mood to the last time a match between the two teams led to a tournament qualification, amid scenes that received a new prominence recently due to the David Beckham documentary. That was the 1997 0-0 draw in Rome, which saw England qualify automatically for the 1998 World Cup. The suffocating tension of that match bore so little resemblance to the stroll of Tuesday’s game, at least for Gareth Southgate’s side. Then, Christian Vieri’s late header caused audible gasps within the Stadio Olimpico, no doubt to match those around the country. The ball went just wide, though, to bring huge emotional release and Paul Gascoigne dancing. The sense of achievement was profound. It was admittedly a different football and a very different Italy, with some of the intensity influenced by England’s failure to reach USA 94, but it was still just qualification - and that for a newly expanded 32-team event. It was also a hugely talented squad, filled by some of the most relentless winners the English game has known in so many of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United stars. And yet this England now has something more, as well as much more than just the expectation of qualification. It is more than the experience of reaching the latter stages of tournaments and so many other psychological milestones like beating Italy away. It is that assuredness, personified by Bellingham. There is something genuinely different in the midfielder, a potential missing ingredient for a team that last came within a penalty shoot-out of victory in this very competition. It is personality as much as performance. It points to an England that can be defined by “winners” at international level, that is able to rise to any given day because they are completely devoid of all the old baggage. This is something that Bellingham’s very youth represents, as well as his admirable willingness to just go straight to Real Madrid rather than feel he has to go to the Premier League. It’s similarly difficult not to think that the mood that fosters also fortifies the confidence of other players with England. That was maybe most visible in Marcus Rashford’s finish, as well as a level of display we haven’t seen so much with his club of late. None of this is to say it’s all down to Bellingham, of course. It’s rather what his mindset represents and rounds off. “He has been a catalyst,” Southgate said after the 3-1 win. “The way he carries himself and plays on the field and shows that, and he has had that since he walked through the door. Plus the power in his play, that gives us something when you are in tight situations and he can suddenly wriggle out of things… That belief, that willingness to engage with the crowd, they are rare traits in a player so young.” They are especially rare in historic England squads, right up to the recent successes. Southgate has navigated his sides through all that from fine man-management of a brilliant generation, where the Football Association have essentially become the latest wealthy western European football nation to industrialise talent production. Bellingham is the sort of player that eventually comes out of that, a final product if you like, but one that often requires a lot of patience. Putting all the pieces in place just gives you the best chance, rather than giving you a certainty of having the best player. These are of course the terms that are already framing the discussion around Bellingham. That isn’t English media exaggeration, either. It was the first question put to Southgate by Italian media. It dominated the late-night football discussion in Spain. The world is talking about Bellingham. It might yet see England dominate these Euros, in the same way they did to Italy to get there. Read More Jude Bellingham once again proves he is the key for England’s Euro 2024 hopes England have qualified for Euro 2024 — now it’s about winning it Gareth Southgate savours win and says England are ‘capable of winning’ Euro 2024 Jude Bellingham once again proves he is the key for England’s Euro 2024 hopes England have qualified for Euro 2024 — now it’s about winning it

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Gareth Southgate says England are ready to fight for European Championship glory having progressed from what he believes was the toughest qualifying group with two matches to spare. After bouncing back from December’s World Cup quarter-final exit to France by winning in Naples in March, three further wins and a draw away to Ukraine put the Euro 2020 runners-up within touching distance of progress. Unbeaten England only needed a point against Italy to wrap up qualification for next year’s finals in Germany but went on to secure all three thanks to an impressive 3-1 comeback victory at a sold-out Wembley. “Really pleased to win the game tonight,” manager Southgate said after sealing their spot at Euro 2024. “That’s the first thing. “We know that the games against the top, top nations are the ones that we want to make a step forward with. “We still need to win the games next month because it can affect seeding. I think it's probably the toughest qualifying group Gareth Southgate “Nice to get it done early. I think it’s probably the toughest qualifying group, with Ukraine, Italy and the results that North Macedonia have had, not only in this qualification but also in previous qualifications.” The pressure is off as England welcome Malta next month, before rounding off 2023 away to North Macedonia buoyed by an impressive victory against Italy. Former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca had put the Azzurri ahead on Tuesday as these nations met at Wembley for the first time since the Euro 2020 final. But Harry Kane levelled from the spot and Marcus Rashford finished off a fine second-half team move, before the skipper added his second on a night that underlined their place among the Euro 2024 favourites. “I think we have to accept that,” Southgate said. “I think pressure comes when expectation is different to reality and the reality is we are going to be one of the teams capable of winning. The reality is we are going to be one of the teams capable of winning Gareth Southgate on Euro 2024 “There are others. You know, it’s a very strong (line-up). You’ve only got to look through the top 10 European nations and on any given night one can beat another. “We’re seeing in a Rugby World Cup now that teams that were ranked one and two in the world in those moments haven’t been able to get there. That’s tournaments. “But we’re comfortable with that. I’ve talked about that from when we played at Naples and we delivered that night. “I think we’ve continued to do that through this calendar year. I think our performances have been good. “I think the players that played against Australia did a brilliant job for us. “If we didn’t have the depth that we’ve got and the mentality to come through what was a really tough night for them, we wouldn’t have been able to have the freshness that we had tonight to give ourselves the best chance of winning the game.” One of the keys to success next summer will undoubtedly be the brilliance of midfielder Jude Bellingham. The Real Madrid star is arguably the best player on the planet right now and earned the first half penalty scored by Kane, before winning the ball and playing in Rashford. “With Jude, his mentality is incredible for his age,” Southgate said. “To have such an impact at such a young age, to show such maturity but also humility. We’re very lucky to have him.” As for Italy, Tuesday’s defeat under the arch leaves them in third in Group C and three points behind second-placed Ukraine. But Luciano Spalletti’s men have a game in hand on Sergey Rebrov’s outfit, who they face in the final round of fixtures. “We have to win our next game so we can then travel away to Ukraine to compete,” the Italy boss said, looking ahead to November’s home clash with North Macedonia. “I saw a team trying to do what I asked of them and I saw some good things. We made a few errors as well. “With the things we did well, we weren’t able to score but as soon as we made a mistake, we conceded.” Read More Michael O’Neill wants Shea Charles to learn from dismissal on frustrating night Steve Clarke says Scotland have ‘lots to improve’ after defeat to France Republic of Ireland heading in the right direction – striker Callum Robinson Scotland come back to earth as France recover from early fright Shea Charles dismissed as Northern Ireland lose at home to Slovenia Jordan Henderson has ‘no regrets’ over Saudi Arabia move despite being booed

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Michael O’Neill has told Shea Charles he must learn from his dismissal after Northern Ireland suffered yet another 1-0 defeat in Euro 2024 qualifying, this time at home to Slovenia. The 19-year-old Charles has been one of the bright spots for Northern Ireland in a hugely frustrating qualifying campaign, among the young players who have grabbed the chance to establish themselves in the side amid an injury nightmare. But his international copybook got its first blemish as he collected two yellow cards to be sent off just before the hour mark at Windsor Park, meaning his run of starting every game so far in this campaign will end when Northern Ireland head to Finland next month. The Southampton midfielder was booked for dissent just a few minutes into the match, protesting against the dubious decision to award Slovenia the free-kick from which Adam Cerin won the game, and then saw red when he caught Andraz Sporar late in the 58th minute. Northern Ireland had been frustrated by several decisions from referee Istvan Kovacs on the night but O’Neill said that was something they had to be able to handle. “This is a learning curve for young players,” he said. “(Slovenia) are a much more experienced international team than we are. You can see that in the way they managed the situation and played the referee a little bit. “The emotion in the stadium obviously transferred to the players a little bit, everyone gets a bit frustrated with some of the decisions…If you’re booked for dissent, that’s poor. You put yourself under pressure so we have to learn from that.” “We’ve probably seen a little combination of inexperience in a number of players and also just the nature of the emotion in the game when you’re chasing the game against a team that are a little bit more experienced and that can spill over a little bit. “But I think that on the night we were pretty disappointed with the performance of the referee.” This was Northern Ireland’s fifth 1-0 defeat of a campaign in which they have faced endless injury problems, with O’Neill forced to use two more fresh faces – Eoin Toal and Brad Lyons – on the night to take the number who have played in the eight qualifiers so far to 31. O’Neill could rightly argue that this performance was a step forward from last month’s 4-2 defeat to Slovenia in Ljubljana considering the way a makeshift defence was able to stifle Benjamin Sesko – who went down easily to win the decisive free-kick off Jamal Lewis – and Sporar. But ultimately it was another defeat, a sixth out of eight with only two wins over minnows San Marino to break up the run. “I think there is always frustration when you lose the game – and a little bit of disappointment as well,” he said. “I think the players deserved more out of it than what they got. We have had a frustrating campaign, a very challenging campaign and tonight’s game was probably a reflection of that once again.” Captain Jonny Evans ended the night limping heavily after taking a late blow to his foot, having already been down in the first half to receive treatment. “He’s obviously hobbling a little bit in there,” O’Neill said of the Manchester United defender. “I think the same foot was stamped on three times so he’s limping pretty badly but I think he’ll be fine. “It will be one of those where when he wakes up in the morning he’ll be pretty sore but there’s no real damage as far as I know.” Read More Steve Clarke says Scotland have ‘lots to improve’ after defeat to France Republic of Ireland heading in the right direction – striker Callum Robinson Scotland come back to earth as France recover from early fright Shea Charles dismissed as Northern Ireland lose at home to Slovenia Jordan Henderson has ‘no regrets’ over Saudi Arabia move despite being booed Rassie Erasmus expects England to have ‘some beef’ with South Africa

Steve Clarke has told his Scotland players to “stop this run” of defeats next month after losing 4-1 to France in Lille. The Scots went into the friendly knowing they had qualified for the 2024 European Championships after Spain beat Norway at the weekend to ensure a top-two finish in Group A. Scotland had lost 2-0 to Spain last week on the back of a 3-1 loss to England at Hampden Park in the 150th Heritage Anniversary match and the French were even classier. Clarke made eight changes from Seville – goalkeepers Liam Kelly and Zander Clark played a half each on their debuts. Scotland stunned the home side when midfielder Billy Gilmour guided in the opener after 11 minutes – his first ever senior goal. However, France defender Benjamin Pavard scored two headers, skipper Kylian Mbappe added a third from the spot before the break after a VAR intervention saw referee Tobias Stieler judge Scotland defender Liam Cooper had held Olivier Giroud and substitute Kingsley Coman hammered in a fourth. After victory in their first five Euro qualifiers, Scotland have lost three in a row and Clarke wants to get that winning feeling back in the final two qualifiers against Georgia next month before the final game against Norway. He said: “We can take away the memory of the qualification but we lost two games in the camp. “We don’t like losing. I don’t want them to be comfortable losing or happy to lose. We have lost three in a row now and I have asked them to make sure that when we got to Georgia that we stop this run Steve Clarke “We spoke about that after the game. It is important we set our standards higher than that. “We have lost three in a row now and I have asked them to make sure that when we got to Georgia that we stop this run. “We want to finish on the same points as Spain so the target is to finish with 21 point which will make it a good campaign.” Clarke, who was “happy” with his team selection, acknowledged the superiority of the home side. He said: “I thought we started the game really well, the first 15 minute was good and we got ourselves in front. “To concede a goal from a corner was disappointing because we know France can score from open play and we try not to give goals away from set plays. “The third goal – I don’t think VAR should have got involved in the decision, it was soft and when the referee goes there he has to be strong to stick with his original decision. “Both players were at it and that takes the game away from us. “The second half was OK but France are always a threat with their pace and power and quality. “So lots to learn, lots to improve. We know we are not at that level yet. “It is level we are going to strive to get to and the harder we strive the better team we will be.” After sealing qualification to Euro 2024 with a 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Friday, France boss Didier Deschamps was happy to finish the camp off with a convincing win He said: “It was a very good week, When you win you are always happy. “The most important thing was against the Netherlands on Friday night and the fact that we have shown so much quality tonight as well, it is a great satisfaction for us. “We created lots of chances against a team that can defend pretty well and has a lot of qualities. So we are very happy.” Read More Michael O’Neill wants Shea Charles to learn from dismissal on frustrating night Republic of Ireland heading in the right direction – striker Callum Robinson Scotland come back to earth as France recover from early fright Shea Charles dismissed as Northern Ireland lose at home to Slovenia Jordan Henderson has ‘no regrets’ over Saudi Arabia move despite being booed Rassie Erasmus expects England to have ‘some beef’ with South Africa