Gareth Southgate Says England Have Room for Improvement Despite 3-0 Win Over USA

Gareth Southgate praised England for a 'really exciting' attacking display in their 3-0 win over the USA on Thursday, though he admitted it was not a perfect performance.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Callum Wilson scored their first international goals, adding to Jesse Lingard's superb opener, as England ran out easy winners against their North American opponents.

Southgate named an inexperienced lineup and was pleased with his young players for their maturity, but admitted his team could have been tighter defensively.

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"I thought our attacking play was really exciting, we had nice interplay around their area and could have punished them a bit more," said the England boss, quoted by BBC Sport.

"We were too open at the end of the game but we had young players who gave good accounts of themselves. I am delighted for Callum Wilson and Trent Alexander-Arnold to score. There was a lot that could have been better."

The match gave England fans the chance to say goodbye to their all-time record goalscorer as Wayne Rooney came on in the second half for his final appearance.

The decision to give Rooney another cap, two years after his last, was criticised in some corners, but Southgate maintains it was the right thing to do.

"From our point of view, we are talking about respecting the shirt and those who have gone before and all of the players did that this week. We gave Wayne a week that he deserved," he said.

"It would have been perfect for him to score but we saw some moments of real quality from him."

England now face Croatia in the Nations League on Sunday, needing a victory to win the group.