Hampden Park

Second Half

46’ - 58’

Scotland came out as physical as before, but England weren’t surprised by it now, and Demien played with cleaner timing — taking the contact, releasing before the hit landed, then moving again, neither hiding from the ball nor holding it to prove a point.

The midfield turned into a proper fight, and his Arturo Vidal’s Warrior Spirit took over in the duels. In the fifty-fourth minute Scotland tried to break through the center off a loose England pass, McGinn driving at the gap, and Demien stepped into him to win the ball back — lowering his frame, his 81 Strength holding McGinn off long enough to shield it and roll it back to Rice before the Scot could recover his footing. Hampden booed him hard for it, wanting him rattled, and he gave them nothing, jogging straight back into shape.

England began to stretch them. Saka stayed wide, Rashford pinned the far side, Kane dropped and turned, Bellingham carried whenever the middle opened.

63’

The second goal came from Demien reading the match’s physical rhythm. Scotland pressed hard after a loose England pass, expecting the ball to go backward, and Demien stepped toward the breaking second ball instead of retreating, winning it ahead of McGregor before the Scot could set himself — then releasing the pressure first-time into Kane’s feet.

Kane dropped it to Bellingham, who drove forward at the retreating line. Saka peeled into the outside run on the right, and Demien continued his own run through the middle, dragging McTominay with him and pulling the cover away from the lane. That left the gap Bellingham wanted — he slid Saka in behind the full-back, and Saka took one touch before squaring it low across the six-yard box for Kane to sweep home — thwack-fsshh.

SCOTLAND 1-2 ENGLAND

Commentary Booth

"England have turned it!" the commentator said. "And it starts with Walter — wins the second ball when Scotland expect the safe pass, then his run drags McTominay away to open the whole thing. That’s a player reading the fight rather than fighting it."

The England corner roared while Kane jogged back with a fist raised, and Demien clapped Bellingham’s shoulder on the way to the restart.

71’ - 82’

Scotland threw bodies forward now, the crowd climbing again to drag England toward panic, and this was where England defended as a unit. Stones rose to clear a deep cross under pressure. Pickford came and claimed a hanging ball off Dykes’s head, holding it tight. Rice hacked a loose ball away from the edge of the box. Bellingham tracked a runner all the way back to his own corner flag.

In the seventy-eighth minute Scotland worked a quick move through midfield, and Demien’s N’Golo Kanté’s Everywhere at Once technique dragged him across to the danger a stride before anyone else read it — his 84 Tackling cutting out the pass into the channel cleanly, the loose ball breaking to Rice and turning Scotland’s attack into England’s transition in one movement.

84’

The third came from Scotland overcommitting. Rice won the ball deep after another Scotland push, moved it out quickly to Demien, and Demien released it first-time into Bellingham before Scotland could fold back. Bellingham carried, drew the last covering man, then slipped Rashford in behind. Rashford steadied himself and rolled it low across the keeper into the far corner — fsshh.

SCOTLAND 1-3 ENGLAND

The home end began streaming toward the exits while the England corner sang, Scotland’s aggression finally turned against them in the space their own pushing had left behind.

Commentary Booth

"That’s the game," the colleague said. "Scotland chased it, left the gaps, and England punished them with the quality that was always there. A hostile night handled exactly right by the visitors."

87’ - 90+4’

The closing minutes ran under England’s control. Demien kept his passes clean, took no unnecessary risks, and helped kill the tempo whenever Scotland tried to lift it one more time, the match drained of its early chaos.

The whistle came.

Fweeeeet! Fweeeeet! Fweeeeeeeeet!

FULL TIME: SCOTLAND 1-3 ENGLAND

England had matched the hostility, absorbed the physical start, and turned the game through control rather than emotion.

The system surfaced as Demien walked toward the tunnel.

「MATCH COMPLETE」

「Pressure-Release Passes: 6」

「Second-Ball Actions: 5」

「Defensive Actions: 4」

「Composure Under Crowd Pressure: Maintained」

「Reward: 70 MP」

「Bonus: Decisive Pre-Assist Recorded」

「Bonus Reward: 5 SP」

「Current Balance: 647 TP | 368 SP | 1203 MP」

Demien read it once and let it fade, satisfied but not celebrating, because every step up only made the next opponent keener to knock him down — the nomination hadn’t lightened the load, it had added to it.

Hampden Park — England Dressing Room

Post-Match

The room was relieved but controlled, the players aware they’d handled a hard place rather than thrashed an easy one.

Southgate kept his reaction measured. "Good response after going behind. The second half was control, not panic. That is how you win in grounds like this. Remember it."

The teasing came back, but lighter now and with less bite, because Demien had answered the match Scotland built specifically to unsettle him. Kane treated it as another professional step with a nod across the room. Rice dropped onto the bench beside him.

"They went after you all night," Rice said, pulling his sock down. "Properly went after you. You didn’t bite once. That’s the bit people won’t talk about, but it’s the bit that mattered."

"Felt like a long ninety," Demien admitted.

"Welcome to playing up here." Rice grinned. "And to being someone worth kicking."

Then the practical part took over — recovery, food, the travel schedule, club return plans landing in everyone’s phones, and Demien saw the United fixture list waiting underneath it all. International duty was ending. Brighton came almost immediately.

The tiredness sat in him deeper than his legs, two England matches and the nomination and the noise and the travel all stacked together, but there was no room to sit inside any of it for long.

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Carrington Training Centre — Analysis Room

Demien walked in with his England bag still over one shoulder, and there was no welcome waiting for him, no long congratulations, no Ballon d’Or talk — the room was already set up and working.

On the screen, Brighton were building from the back.

Onana sat near the front. Bruno leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Casemiro watched with his arms folded. Ten Hag stood beside the screen with the remote in his hand.

Demien took a seat near the side.

Ten Hag waited until the room settled, then pressed play.

Brighton’s goalkeeper received the ball. United’s front line pressed on the video. Brighton passed through it in four touches.

Ten Hag paused the screen.