England kicked off their European Championship preparation with a 3-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday at St James' Park, thanks to goals from Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold and captain Harry Kane.
England picked up their pace after a dull first half and Palmer, who has scored nine penalties for Chelsea this season, broke the deadlock with his first England goal in the 60th minute from the penalty spot after Ezri Konsa was brought down in the area.
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“It's a great feeling to score my first goal for England,” Palmer, who was interviewed alongside Kane, a late substitute, told Channel 4.
“Of course [Kane] “I would have accepted it if I had been on the field,” Palmer added, smiling.
Liverpool's Alexander-Arnold, who was one of the bright spots of the night, doubled their lead in the 85th minute with his third goal for England when he fired in from a tight angle following a beautiful pass from Manchester City's Jack Grealish.
Bayern Munich striker Kane, who has 12 goals in his last 12 international matches, scored perhaps one of the easiest goals of his career four minutes later when he slotted the ball in from close range after Jarrod Bowen's shot hit Konsa in a fight in front of the goal.
“I feel good,” said Kane, after not playing for Bayern since May 8 due to a back problem. “A lot of the end of the season was precautionary. It was a good opportunity to get a good rest at the end of the season. I feel good.
“It's about getting minutes. I'm not someone who takes too long to get sharp.”
Several key players, including midfielder Jude Bellingham, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid on Saturday, were absent, but the game hinged on manager Gareth Southgate deciding which seven players he should cut before the deadline. Friday for his 26-man team.
He liked what he saw for much of Monday's game.
“We had players who needed minutes and we needed a competitive game,” Southgate said. “The opposition was tenacious so we had to be patient and keep digging – we felt our quality would tell.
“There were some good individual performances and I hope we got through without any problems.”
On Palmer, Southgate said: “Look, he showed moments of what he is. Of course, it was his first start for us. I think there is more to come as he feels more comfortable in the group and we can give him the ball like he does.” needs.
“He can obviously play in a couple of different positions, so he has had a fabulous season and there is no reason why he can't make a big impact for us.”
The second half salvaged what looked set to be a disappointing night for the sell-out crowd at St James' Park, in England's first game away from Wembley for a year.
With a squad full of talent and after finishing runners-up in the last Euro Cup, the Three Lions bring great expectations to Germany.
Southgate now faces a difficult task in selecting his squad, although several players, including Alexander-Arnold, Eberechi Eze, Conor Gallagher and Palmer, stood out on Monday.
The manager's job is complicated by the fact that Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Anthony Gordon are recovering from injuries and were unavailable on Monday, and Southgate decided to rest Bukayo Saka and John Stones.
Six of England's starting 11 came into Monday's match with fewer than 10 caps.
England will host Iceland in their final friendly on Friday at Wembley before leaving for Germany.
They will face Serbia in their first Group C match on June 16 in Gelsenkirchen.
