Southgate gauges gap to the best

PARIS - England boss Gareth Southgate said Tuesday's 3-2 friendly loss to France provided further evidence of how far his side has to go before it can be considered a World Cup contender.

Southgate's side was unable to hold on to an early lead, courtesy of a Harry Kane strike, and came up short despite the host playing most of the second half with 10 men at Stade de France.

Kane bagged a brace, with the second coming from the penalty spot after Raphael Varane was sent off. In between, Samuel Umtiti and Djibril Sidibe netted for France and Ousmane Dembele snatched the late winner.

It was the third successive friendly that England has failed to win under Southgate after a 2-2 draw with Spain in November and a 1-0 loss to Germany in March. But the manager insisted the gap to those sides is no bigger than what he imagined.

"If I'm honest it is absolutely what I thought," said the 46-year-old.

"We have been competitive in all three games but we needed to play at our absolute limits to stay in all of those matches and that has shown in the end.

"Those three games have provided different tests. With Spain it was their ability to keep the ball better than us and today it was slightly different.

"But physically the demands their players posed meant we started to tire and that led to a mistake on the third goal."

England is on course to qualify for the World Cup finals in Russia next year, despite needing a last-gasp Kane goal to earn a 2-2 draw in Scotland last weekend.

But just setting foot in France, where it suffered a humiliating exit from Euro 2016 to Iceland, reminded it of its dreadful record at major tournaments.

"We haven't in the last few years got anywhere near any of those teams when it has come to tournaments," said Southgate, who played with a three-man central defense, while giving chances to the likes of Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton and Tottenham fullback Kieran Trippier.

"We need to see the reality of where we are, and you have got to test yourself against the best, otherwise it can mask where you are as a team."

Video controversy

The match was notable for the intervention of the video assistant referee (VAR) after Italian ref Davide Massa awarded a penalty for Varane's foul on Dele Alli.

The VAR, which is being tested by FIFA, ruled that Varane's foul was a straight red card despite a recent change in the law governing clear goal-scoring opportunities.

"I thought it was the right call. It looked a clear penalty and, therefore, a sending-off," said Southgate.

"Clearly, even with video, you won't get every decision right. There is still an element of one person's judgement."

France twice fell foul of the VAR in a 2-0 friendly loss to Spain in March and it was fuming at the decision to dismiss Real Madrid defender Varane, even if coach Didier Deschamps was delighted with the way his side battled with 10 men.

"Things became complicated a bit with the red card and the penalty which looked more than harsh to me, even if it didn't matter in the end," said Deschamps, who rested star striker Antoine Griezmann, of Atletico Madrid.

The match was preceded by tributes to the victims of the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London. The crowd sang the Oasis hit Don't Look Back In Anger and French fans joined England supporters in singing the English national anthem and observing a minute's silence.

"Our federation did what had to be done to bring everyone together," said Deschamps. "There is a rivalry but the players all know each other too, so it goes beyond that."

Agence France - Presse