England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel called James Garner ‘team’s mini Valverde’ after a 1-1 draw against Uruguay. After a goalless first half, Ben White scored for the Three Lions in the 81st minute. However, in-form Valverde scored in the 94th minute for the Uruguayan side.

Garner, who received his maiden cap, played 70 minutes against Uruguay whereas James Trafford also made his debut for England.

Garner was awarded the player of the match award for his impressive performance and Tuchel was all praise for the 25-year-old youngster.

“I’m very happy [with Garner] — he’s our mini Valverde,” Tuchel said.

“He’s getting there, and he played very, very good. I was quite sure that he will play good because he has this natural confidence and he’s just very physical. He won a lot of balls.”

The former Chelsea manager said Garner still has a lot to learn and he can be a little bit more open in his body position.

“I think there are some situations where he can be a little bit more open in the body position and drive maybe a little bit more through midfield with a little bit more confidence,” he said.

“I think in the last 10 minutes of the first half, he was involved in some ball losses that cost us a bit of confidence.

“But overall I was very impressed with the way he trained and the way he behaved. The way he played was good.”

The German football manager said he learned a lot as they faced a tough opposition in Uruguay.

“I learned a lot because it was a tough opponent,” Tuchel said after the 1-1 Wembley draw.

“You just see it in the details. You learn a lot in the details, how is the behaviour and you see the level.

“If you play against [Manuel] Ugarte, if you play against [Federico] Valverde in midfield, you see the level.

“You play against the wingers and these defensive players, it’s a high level and then you instantly see so we needed this kind of test. I’m happy that we did it the way we did it and we learned a lot.”

England will next take on Japan on Tuesday.