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England's humiliating 1-0 loss to Iceland in their last pre-Euro 2024 warm-up match, according to Gareth Southgate, will help his championship contenders face reality. Southgate's team, who are among the favorites to win the Euro, had hoped for a confidence-boosting victory at Wembley on Friday before heading to Germany. However, England's goodbye was marred by Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson's first-half goal, which resulted in booing the lackluster hosts at halftime and the final whistle. Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon, and Kobbie Mainoo were all unable to convince anyone that they should start at the Euros against a 72nd-ranked squad that was not able to qualify for the tournament.

"We need to improve. We were not pressing the issue correctly. We were unable to respond to some of the questions posed, according to Southgate.

"It was a clearly rambling and unsatisfactory performance. Although I believe it's a great excellent focus for us before the competition, we didn't demonstrate enough character. 

"I'm sure we'll surpass our performance from tonight. Everyone is predicting that we will travel there and navigate the competition. That isn't how international football actually works."

The fact that John Stones did not return from the half, maybe as a precautionary measure following the England center-back's untimely fall in the first half, only increased Southgate's concerns.

We believe he is most likely alright. We were unwilling to take the risk," Southgate remarked.

In his starting lineup for England's June 16 Group C opening against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, Southgate stated it was "close" to that squad.

If so, he will have to inspire a far better performance from a team that seemed lacking in poise and enthusiasm without Jude Bellingham, a great player for Real Madrid, who was on rest.

Few spectators stayed for the post-match lap of honor because the majority of the night was spent amusing themselves by buzzing the pitch with paper airplanes.

"You want to leave on a positive note and with a strong performance. "We performed inadequately to sustain their enthusiasm," stated Southgate, whose team has only triumphed once in their previous five outings.

It was a concerning performance that highlighted concerns about important aspects of his team, even though Southgate can point out that this loss will mean nothing when England begin their quest to win a major trophy for the first time in 58 years.

"No justifications"

Southgate was concerned about England's defensive shortcomings after his team had only kept two clean sheets in their previous seven games. 

"We've got to be far better without the ball and we've got to show more composure with it," he stated.

"Players may play like that in the lead-up to tournaments because they are concerned about being hurt. 

"The reality that we suffer from numerous physical problems cannot be concealed. The nucleus of the team hasn't yet come together.

"We must remain composed. There are many things we can immediately correct, but there are no excuses for the outcome. In fact, it allows us to concentrate mentally."

When Southgate cut Jack Grealish, James Maddison, and the injured Harry Maguire off his 26-man roster on Thursday, he displayed a rarely seen ruthlessness.

In Germany, the coming month will tell whether those choices were right, but Maguire's absence might be particularly detrimental.

When Marc Guehi took over for Maguire and Stones in England's central defense, the two played a poor game, and Ezri Konsa didn't perform any better after coming on in the second half.

When Iceland defeated Roy Hodgson's team in the round of 16 at Euro 2016, it is well-known that it caused one of the most embarrassing losses in England's history.

Thorsteinsson's goal in the 12th minute hurt England, even though this loss won't compare to that night in Nice.

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With a goal in mind, Thorsteinsson ran at Stones and cut inside before hitting Aaron Ramsdale at his near post with a low effort from the edge of the box.