Image source, Reuters

To give the England debate a helping hand, here are some thoughts from our chief football writer Phil McNulty on the subject of whether England have improved since the World Cup...

"When England went out of the World Cup, they were accompanied by confirmation that defensively they were simply not good enough against high-class opponents. It was a flaw ruthlessly exposed by Uruguay's Luis Suarez in what proved to be a defining defeat in Sao Paulo. Have things improved since? Despite those perfect results in qualifying, the suspicion lingers that it is still England's Achilles heel.

"Hodgson has the players to allow him to adopt various systems. Sterling can play wide, centrally and at the tip of a midfield diamond, while captain Wayne Rooney and Kane can drop deep as well as playing as the main striker. He must now assemble the pieces correctly."

We asked you if you thought England had improved since the World Cup and how...

Henry Ashman: Against the big sides, England are worse. The diamond is defensive & narrow, to win England need to dictate play & get wide.

Please send in your thoughts to #bbcsportsday and the BBC Sport Facebook, external page.

Image source, Twitter

Andros Townsend may not have been in scintillating form ahead of last night's game in Turin, but he hopes he has quietened his critics "for a few months" after his 25-yard equaliser earned England a 1-1 friendly draw in Italy.

"I have just been desperate to get on the pitch and silence a few critics," he said. "Hopefully they can realise the quality I bring to the team."

One particular critic Townsend seems eager to silence is former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson, who had questioned Townsend's place in the team earlier in the week in comments made to Sky Sports. As you can see from the picture above, Townsend was quick to hammer home his point on Twitter.

Image source, PA

So, what about that England draw last night then? We are loath to do this, but it would be fair to describe it as a game of two halves. Sorry. The first 45 minutes were confused and the second more composed. Our chief football writer Phil McNulty had a similar take on the game. And he also gave his ratings for each of the England players, which includes a 5 for Phil Jones and a 7 for his replacement Michael Carrick. Hodgson's experiment damned by numbers.

Time for this morning's debate...

England have now played eight matches since their failed World Cup campaign in Brazil last summer. They have won seven of them and drew the latest last night against Italy. The question is simple: have England improved since last summer and in what way?

Please send in your thoughts to #bbcsportsday and the BBC Sport Facebook, external page.

Image source, AS

In Spain, the focus of the sports papers appears to be less on national and more on club matters, which is perhaps unsurprising considering they were beaten 2-0 by Netherlands last night. Real Madrid's signing of Porto's Brazilian right-back Danilo for £23m is the dominant story.

The 23-year-old will join the reigning European champions at the end of this season.

Image source, Corriere dello Sport

The Italian press praised their own goalscorer from last night, Southampton's Graziano Pelle, who put his recent Premier League woes behind him to effectively lead the forward line for his country in Turin.

Image source, Independent

There is a similar vibe in the Independent, who add to the theory that Hodgson was rescued by Townsend's equaliser, which they say salvaged a draw after the manager's first-half tactical experiment (which included using an ineffective Phil Jones in midfield) backfired.

Image source, Sun

Unsurprisingly, all of today's back pages are dominated by Andros Townsend following his superb long-range strike to earn England a 1-1 draw against Italy in Turin last night. The Sun go with 'Town Flyer', and suggest that the Tottenham winger "rescued" Roy Hodgson and his side.

They also have a teaser for the aforementioned, Van Gaal star sign story (the cheeky scamps), while claiming that Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels could be on his way to Manchester United. Unless he's a Libra, that is.

Image source, Getty Images

Former world number one Tiger Woods has played a practice round at Augusta as he continues to weigh up his chances of playing in this year's Masters.

Woods, a four-time Masters champion, has yet to confirm if he will feature at next week's event after struggling for form.

He is now ranked 104 in the world and has missed the cut in the only two tournaments he has played this season. Woods posted the worst score of his professional career earlier this year, with an 11-over-par 82 at the Phoenix Open. He also withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open after just 11 holes last month, before taking an indefinite break from the game.

Image source, Getty Images

Colin Graves' mission to improve English cricket is clearly in full swing. The incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman has stated Test cricket could be reinvigorated by shortening matches to four days.

Graves wants every day's play to start at 10:30 BST and last 105 overs in order to boost attendances and revenue.

"Every Test match would start on a Thursday, with Thursday and Friday being corporate days and then Saturday and Sunday the family days," said Graves. "From a cost point of view you'd lose that fifth day, which would save a lot of money from the ground's point of view and the broadcasters ... I would look at that."

Image source, Getty Images

Wasps forward Nathan Hughes has been banned for three weeks by an RFU disciplinary panel following an incident that led to Northampton's George North being knocked unconscious.

The 23-year-old was sent off for his challenge on the winger, who was scoring Saints' second try on Friday. A panel found Hughes guilty of "striking with the knee and/or shin".

It has been a particularly painful few months for Wales international North, has been knocked unconscious three times. He is due to see a neurosurgeon to determine when he is able to play again.

Image source, Getty Images

Before we have a look at this morning's papers we have a few news lines to bring you.

Last night, Andy Murray became the first Briton to reach the landmark of 500 career wins after defeating Kevin Anderson to earn his place in the Miami Open last eight. The third seed required all three sets to despatch South Africa's Anderson, seeded 15, winning 6-4 3-6 6-3.

He is the 46th man (of which nine are still playing) to reach 500 wins since the open era began.

So, this is Sportsday - your one-stop shop for all the latest sporting news.

Today, we'll bring you all the best reaction to England's 1-1 draw in Italy last night - including Andros Townsend's Twitter spat with Paul Merson.

We'll also look at Andy Murray's 500th career win - a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory over South Africa's Kevin Anderson in the last 16 of the Miami Open.

In addition, there is also chat from incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves on his hopes for a potential change in Test cricket and rumours from the world of golf, where it has been suggested that Tiger Woods may be about to end his self-imposed tournament exile.

And we'll be giving you the chance to have your say on social media.

Image source, AP

Firstly, a promise: no April's Fools.

From designated selfie areas for players to take photos of themselves after scoring, to Louis Van Gaal picking his Manchester United team based on star sign, today's papers have gone all-out to try and hilariously trick you into believing something ludicrous. If we wanted to do that we would just re-publish Eoin Morgan's assertion in early February that England could win the Cricket World Cup.

Besides, we could never top Grandstand's 1989 effort.

No, instead we'll be focusing on good old truths today. Such as this: during his career, Andy Murray has flown around the Earth 48 times - he could have gone to the Moon and back. Twice. More of that later.