'Not time to panic' despite big defeat

•LONDON • After narrowly losing last year's Euro 2020 final in a penalty shoot-out to Italy, England have high hopes for the World Cup Finals, which start in November.

But their dismal form in the Nations League has baffled fans, with some pundits pointing to player exhaustion after the rigours of the Premier League and other competitions.

Hungary humiliated England 4-0 away on Tuesday to go top of Group A3 and hand the hosts their worst home defeat for 94 years in a competition Gareth Southgate's side had hoped would be a morale-boosting warmup for the World Cup.

The Three Lions manager made nine changes from the team that drew with Italy at the weekend to give some fringe players a chance.

But despite dominating possession, England created few chances and the experiment backfired against a Hungary team who failed to qualify for Qatar 2022 but beat them in Budapest earlier in the month.

"Tonight is a chastening experience," Southgate said after his side were booed off at Molineux at the full-time whistle.

A double by Roland Sallai, and further strikes by Zsolt Nagy and Daniel Gazdag gave the Hungarians a rare double over one of the World Cup favourites, whose awful night was compounded by the red card for John Stones following two bookable offences.

Southgate said he had picked a young, experimental team that was top heavy, leaving them exposed when the game turned.

"That's my responsibility at the end of the day. We couldn't keep flogging our best players... But I think I've given too much for them to do tonight. I understand the reaction (the booing) to that in the stadium," he said.

"I'm not going to say that it doesn't hurt... We've seen that you've got to be at full strength. It was an important experience for young players... This group of players have been unbelievable for the country and it's important that they stay with them."

England captain Harry Kane, who provided his side their few moments of quality and hit the bar with a header, acknowledged the second-half capitulation was "unacceptable" but also urged fans to be forgiving.

"It's our first big defeat in a long time. It's not time to panic, it's time to keep our heads up," he said.

"A night to forget but we have to take it on the chin and move forward, prepare for a big World Cup, and we'll learn a lot...

"Let's not forget where we've come from. It's not going to be perfect every game."

With two games left, the group winners go to the Nations League finals next June while the bottom team are relegated. England prop up the table on two points, while Germany are second on six after winning 5-2 against Italy, who are third on five points.

Die Mannschaft equalled their biggest victory over the European champions - which came in 1939-as Timo Werner netted twice alongside Joshua Kimmich, Ilkay Gundogan and Thomas Muller.

In Group A4, Memphis Depay scored an injury-time winner just seconds after Gareth Bale had equalised for Wales as the Netherlands snatched a 3-2 home victory. The narrow win keeps the leaders three points clear of Belgium, who beat Poland 1-0 in Warsaw. The Nations League will restart in September.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS