Roy Hodgson was vindicated for his “bold” approach in selecting teenager Dele Alli for his first England start in their friendly win against France at Wembley.
On a highly emotional night in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attack, the young Tottenham midfielder capped a man-of-the-match display with a spectacular opening goal.
England’s manager was fulsome in his praise of Alli describing his performance as “close to faultless”.
Hodgson said: “Not for any moment did I think he was anything but top class. It was amazing with no previous experience other than 10 minutes as a substitute.
“I think he was outstanding and will get a lot of praise which he deserves.”
Hodgson added that had he not believed in Alli he would not have played pointing out that he was selected ahead of Adam Lallana and Jonjo Shelvey.
He said: “I have seen what he can do playing for Spurs. You could say it was bold but I have done it before with Sturridge, Barclay, Sterling and Shaw.
“I have a history and believe in giving young players a chance. And there is a good possibility they will take it and remain important figures.
“He is only 19 and played a handful of Premier League games and one start for England.
“He is only learning the game and it would be nice if he can learn without too much publicity and glare from the spotlight.”
Hodgson was delighted with the display from his young team explaining he had learnt a lot from the two friendlies against Spain and France.
The positives were the way the team defended for 70 minutes against Spain and also counter attacked with purpose.
He added there was a different approach against France and the players handled that test well.
Hodgson added that some of the young players who stepped in against Spain and France have provided him with food for thought as he goes about selecting his squad for Euro 2016 pointing out it may now be appreciably more difficult to make those choices.
Hodgson described it as a “poignant” night as everybody remembered the victims of the Paris attacks explaining the two respective Football Assocations had achieved what they had set out to do.
And there was praise from Hodgson for the 71,000 fans for the respect they afforded the occasion pointing out that helped the teams.
Hodgson said: “I have received text messages from French people I know saying they thought it was a very good occasion for the country and the we handled it and they were proud England can put on an event like this.
“It was the French FA that decided the game should go ahead, not us pushing. It was an act of defiance and very important the game went ahead and luckily it did without any problems.
“We had to make sure we conduct a remembrance event and show solidarity and unity and then play a good game of football.”
French manager Didier Deschamps added he felt “powerful emotions” when England fans joined in with the singing of their national anthem La Marseillias.”