The “eyes of the English world” will be watching as Marcus Rashford – 18 years and 209 days old – makes his debut for England against Australia on Friday with a rising, extraordinary opportunity of making it into the final 23-squad for Euro 2016, Roy Hodgson has declared.

The England manager spoke of how carefully he had tried to dampen down the talk around Rashford – while admitting he had “something special” - after he burst on the scene a few short months ago for Manchester United but there is a shared sense of excitement at what the precocious striker can possibly achieve for his country as well as his club.

There is also a gleaming, obvious parallel with England playing this fixture – the last warm-up game before the 23-man squad is named by midnight on Tuesday and with serious concerns over the fitness of Daniel Sturridge who will undergo a fitness test on Friday – at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.