Tuesday 17 November 2015 23:37, UK
England manager Roy Hodgson called Dele Alli's performance against France "faultless" after the midfielder scored his first goal for his country on Tuesday night.
Alli broke the deadlock on an emotional night at Wembley Stadium with a brilliant long-range effort past club-mate Hugo Lloris.
And Hodgson said the 19-year-old deserved all the praise that is now likely to come his way following England's 2-0 win.
"It was as close to a faultless performance as you can get," said Hodgson. "I did not think he was anything other than top class, it is amazing at that age to have no previous experience and to go in and do what he did tonight was quite outstanding. He will obviously get a lot of praise for that performance, and he deserves a lot of praise.
"I was not surprised as if I did not believe he could play like that, I would not have chosen him. Do not forget he is only 19, he has only played a handful of games, this is his first start and it would be nice if he gets to learn the game without too much glare."
The friendly against France was played only days after the terrorist attacks in Paris, with the sombre occasion marked by the both sets of fans signing the French national anthem just prior to kick-off.
And Hodgson said everyone involved at Wembley deserved credit for the way in which they conducted themselves.
"It was a very poignant occasion and everything I expected it to be," he said. "The way the two FA's set up the remembrance service before the game started was very well done. The players getting together for the minute's silence, all the things we wanted to achieve, we did.
"Then people had to put that aside and play a game of football between two good teams and once the whistle went the players had to put that all behind them. And it turned out to be a good evening for us as we played well and won the game.
"The players coped with it very well, but players do tend to cope with these things. I think the interesting thing this evening was the game attracted 71,000 people, which is quite incredible.
"It is a great crowd and I thought they played their part in respecting the ceremony and in helping our team perform as they did."
Hodgson also thought the performance of his own players, with the home side's victory confirmed by captain Wayne Rooney's second-half strike, was worthy of the occasion.
"I thought they played very well," he said. "I thought the first half was as good as we have played at Wembley for a long time. We played with authority and composure, I thought the movement and passing were excellent and we were a constant threat when we had the ball.
"And I thought we defended very well when we did not have the ball. And these two games have given me what I wanted to see. Tonight I saw a different type of opponent and I thought the players handled it very well."
