England relied on goals from Gary Cahill and Harry Kane before slackening in the second half to beat Nigeria 2-1 in a World Cup warmup match on Saturday. On his first England appearance since October, Cahill headed in the opener in the seventh minute from Kieran Trippier’s corner in front of 70,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
Raheem Sterling set up Kane to double England’s lead in the 39th before Alex Iwobi reduced the deficit in the opening two minutes of the second half. After a week in the headlines over a gun tattoo and returning late for England duty, Sterling courted more controversy when he was booked for simulation for hitting the ground all too easily as goalkeeper Francis Uzoho came off his line to claim the ball.
England held on to win one of two friendlies for England before Gareth Southgate’s side opens its campaign in Russia against Tunisia on June 18, with another game against Costa Rica on Thursday.
Nigeria, which was held by Congo on Monday, plays the Czech Republic on Wednesday before facing Croatia in its World Cup opener on June 16. USA Today
