Curtis Jones celebrated a dream debut for England after scoring in the 3-0 win over Greece in Athens.
England got back on track for UEFA Nations League promotion with a comfortable win over Greece to reclaim top spot in the group. Lee Carsley handed a senior debut to Liverpool midfielder Jones, a player he knows well from the u-21 set-up.
Jones marked his debut with a standout performances at the Athens Olympic Stadium, as completed 96% of his passes, won seven duels, made four tackles and scored the third goal.
After Ollie Watkins opened the scoring early on and an own goal from Greece goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, Jones wrapped up the win late on.
The midfielder brilliantly backheeled Morgan Gibbs-White’s cut-back past the goalkeeper to become the first Liverpool player to score on his England debut since Sammy Lee in 1982 – coincidentally also against Greece.
After becoming a father this month, it’s been a few weeks to remember for Jones who will hope this is the start of a long career with the Three Lions.
So far, so good.
Carsley hails ‘outstanding Jones’
Lee Carsley was full of praise for England’s performance and hailed Jones as an ‘outstanding player’ after an impressive debut.
“It represents that we are moving in the right direction. We won’t get too carried away, we have a big game on Sunday at Wembley,” Carsley said to ITV.
“It is just important the players played to their strengths. We have a lot of outstanding talent. The players that weren’t here, we concentrated on the ones who were. They took their opportunity today.
“Curtis Jones is an outstanding player. He played really well, even without his goal. With his goal it was an excellent performance.
“People were speaking last night about the inexperience in the squad but these players are playing for their clubs at a really high level.”
