Five Truths: Alli and Dier upstage senior stars and Denmark offer glimpse of Sweden future

After years of disappointment and frustration watching two superb midfielders in Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard flatter to deceive as a cohesive unit alongside one another for their country, England fans deserve surprise double act Dele Alli and Eric Dier.

The excellent form they’ve displayed for club and country thus far this season is even more of a bonus when you consider they are a squad defender pushed forward out of necessity and a promising young recruit from the lower leagues.

Many assumed wouldn’t be ready for the big time for a few years, but Dier and Alli’s teamwork has been extremely effective and seen them skyrocket from the nucleus of a makeshift Spurs side to the heart of one of England’s finest performances of recent years. Yes, this was just a friendly and of course, many are distracted by the Paris tragedies, but these two over-achievers have nonetheless issued a statement of intent to the usual suspects battling for midfield spots in Roy Hodgson’s final squad next summer.

He’s by no means the finished article and he only has a handful of caps to his name, but is John Stones now in line to be in the starting XI for Euro 2016?

Against Spain, England struggled to build attacks and keep the ball, in part because they didn’t have centre half who could distribute from the back. But the Everton 21-year-old showed he can fill that void last night while sticking to his defensive duties and exuding a calm authority. Rumours of Chelsea’s interest over the summer show he is highly rated outside of the England camp as well. Surely, on form, Hodgson has to find a spot for him in this side.

They may have squeezed through by the odd goal in Slovenia, but Ukraine will be one of the rank outsiders in France next summer. While Yevhen Konoplyanka and Andriy Yarmolenko provide a good strike partnership up top, they were outplayed in midfield and came under big pressure defensively by a side not known for their attacking prowess. They need to work on making themselves much harder to beat before they rub shoulders with the heavyweights next summer.

Denmark show Sweden a worrying glimpse of the future. The game might have finished with a draw, but by the time Denmark scored their two late consolation goals, Sweden knew their chances of qualification were already almost certain. The reason they held such a significant advantage was because of the magical ego and ability of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. There was nobody else on the pitch of either side who had nearly the same quality, and it was plain that Denmark struggled. Sweden will enjoy the success Ibrahimovic has given them, but their neighbours hint what a future without special talents look like.

Lionel Messi is doing everything in his power to be fit for Barcelona’s huge Clasico clash with Real Madrid on Saturday. Of course, an appearance for his country on Tuesday was out of the question, despite it being a crucial World Cup qualification test away to a formidable Colombia side. Without him, the World Cup finalists ultimately entered a very impressive, workmanlike display to grind out a 1-0 win and hand Colombia their first defeat under Jose Pekerman in Barranquilla, after seven wins and one draw.

Even without Messi, Argentina had strong attacking firepower in the form of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain and yet the only goal of the game came courtesy of battling box-to-box midfielder Lucas Buglia. Come 2018 in Russia, assuming Argentina make it to the finals, this could be the result their fans look to when it comes to the story of their latest successful qualification.