This is what happens when Harry Kane - in the form of his life - has to kick the substitutes' bench. When he was released, the result was immediate, with the England captain forcing an equalizer 40 seconds after his introduction.
It was to be an own goal by North Macedonia midfielder Jani Atanasov, but it was Kane's presence, his quick run to a Phil Foden corner just before the hour mark, that sent his marker into panic.
And so England got something out of the final game of an excellent Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, with their progress left in no doubt from the moment they defeated Italy in Naples in the opening match. Fortunately, the goal also took some of the attention away from the referee, Filip Glova, who was having one of those nights where he was impossible to ignore, mainly for the wrong reasons.
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Glova had rocked England and debutant Rico Lewis, who filled the problem left-back position, when he awarded North Macedonia a penalty towards the end of the first half. Enis Bardhi scored from the rebound after seeing his penalty saved. After a push from VAR, Glova ruled that Lewis had put his hand in Bojan Miovski's face when he won a free header. It wasn't Glova's only overly fussy intervention.
The match then collapsed. England were far from perfect, but nevertheless better than last Friday's 2-0 win at Wembley in Malta. They end the calendar year with a record of eight wins and two draws from ten matches. As everyone knows, it's all about how they end the season at the European Championships in Germany.
North Macedonia were determined from the start to let England know they would be in a physical battle, and the constant niggling at Bukayo Saka and Jack Grealish in particular was both tiring and a test of the wingers' respective temperaments. Gareth Southgate threw up his arms in frustration.
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Glova was far too central a figure for anyone and he had to make two decisions at the other end in the first half, with North Macedonia screaming for a penalty each time. He ignored the first and gave the second, which felt wrong every time, but did that add up to a good one? Let's start with the first, which was the turning point of the half as up to that point England had dominated, Ollie Watkins - who started for Kane - sniffing a few times and Declan Rice hitting a low shot through a crowd. and against the far post.
There was no danger when Harry Maguire got the ball in the 23rd minute and there was the blink of an eye when he passed straight to Miovski, who moved the ball to Eljif Elmas. Cue the one-on-one between Maguire and Elmas, with the former's challenge being awkward to say the least. It seemed as if he lost his balance and rushed into Elmas; shades of Boris Johnson at Soccer Aid. Glova gave Maguire the benefit of the considerable doubt.
On to the next and it was Lewis who rose to head away a cross from North Macedonia's left, clearly winning the ball. But why was Miovski, the Aberdeen striker, on the ground? It turned out that Lewis had put his hand in Miovski's face with his moving, jumping arm. On the advice of the VAR, Glova checked the monitor on the field and after much thought he pointed to the spot. It was a ridiculously harsh decision. North Macedonia captain Bardhi saw Jordan Pickford save his kick, but he gobbled up the rebound. Miovski was the toast of all Scotland. England had it all to do.
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England's 7-0 win over North Macedonia at Old Trafford in June had provided an important part of the backstory. It was the worst defeat in North Macedonia's history and there was little doubt that they were motivated to show that they were more than that. They did.
Southgate's starting XI had been progressive, retaining Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield; no Kalvin Phillips, so no double bolt with Rice. What was noticeable at first was how Lewis played inside and outside when England had possession; sometimes high. Lewis could almost see the headlines in the early race when a corner was only half clear for him. The first shot was wild. He didn't deserve his moment of VAR misfortune.
The draw for the Euro 2024 final will take place on December 2 at 5pm (GMT) in Hamburg, where 24 teams will be placed in six groups.
Germany have automatically qualified as hosts and will be in Pot 1, along with the five teams with the best qualifying records - Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium And England.
Pot 2 contains the other group winners - Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Turkey/Croatia And Romania/Switzerland - and the highest ranked runner-up, Austria.
Pots 3 and 4 contain the group's remaining nine runners-up, plus the three play-off winners. Scotland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Netherlands, Italy And Serbia have all reserved their places.
The playoffs offers twelve teams another chance to qualify as they are involved in three four-team knockout paths on Thursday. The play-off places and paths are based on performances in the Nations League.
Path A Poland, Estonia, Croatia/Wales
Path B Israel, Bosnia, Finland/Ukraine/Iceland*
Path C Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan and Luxembourg
*The lowest ranked team from Path B moves to Path A
The all-seeing technology would deny England at the start of the second half. The first period had ended with Alexander-Arnold Stole extending Dimitrievski from distance and now England thought they had an equalizer after some beautiful work from Saka on the right. He wriggled away from two challenges and fired his cross before a third could get to him. Grealish had a tap at the far post but was withdrawn for offside.
England remained calm and with Kane on the pitch their fortunes improved immediately. It had been a huge opportunity for Watkins and ultimately one he didn't take. He was peripheral and only touched the ball eleven times.
