England manager Gareth Southgate has refused to single out Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope's blunder for Germany's equaliser as the reason the Three Lions drew their UEFA Nations League match last night at Wembley.
England found themselves 1-0 down just seven minutes after half-time when Harry Maguire gave the ball away to German midfielder Jamal Musiala and then immediately fouled him to give away a penalty which was dispatched by Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.
Chelsea's Kai Havertz then found a curling effort past Pope but the Three Lions came back with two goals in three minutes - Luke Shaw pulling one back from close range before a Mason Mount first-time effort bought the score level.
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Jude Bellingham was then deemed to have been fouled in the box after 83 minutes and captain Harry Kane stepped up to score and make it 3-2. However, a long-range effort from Serge Gnabry was fumbled by Magpies ' Pope giving Havertz an easy tap-in for his brace.
After the game, Southgate explained what he thought his side needed to improve on before the World Cup in Qatar begins in November where they face Iran, the U.S and Wales in the group stage.
"It is hard to tell from the side. It is the giving away of possession that is the problem, but look, as a group they have really come together this week. It has been a tough period for the team but they have grown.
"To an extent, we are always going to face pressure so we need to be exposed to pressure. We played a friendly against Ivory Coast in March and they went to ten men and it became a non-event and we learnt nothing. This week we've learnt a huge amount. They've had to step forward and come together - it will benefit us in the long run."
When asked specifically about Nick Pope's mistake costing the team the win, Southgate dismissed the notion and set the record straight.
"It is an error and of course he's going to be down but the team has to be together and we have done that all week."
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