England began their EURO 2020 championship campaign with a 1-0 victory over Croatia in front of about 22,500 supporters live at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Three Lions coach, Gareth Southgate, put up a surprise lineup that left out Manchester United forward, Marcus Rashford and Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell.
Southgate instead opted for debutants – Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Leeds United’s Kalvin Philips, while Luke Shaw was dropped for Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier, who was surprisingly fielded at the left-back position.
Despite boos from fans for taking the knee in solidarity for the anti-racism campaign, the Three Lions got off to a good start in the opening game of Group D which also has Scotland and the Czech Republic.
Both teams were inseparable after the first 45 minutes of open play at Wembley with Raheem Sterling being the only difference in the second half.
The striker, who left the disappointment of Manchester City’s Champions League defeat to Chelsea, put up a solid performance.
Sterling scored the opener which turned out to be the winning goal in the 57th minute after an assist from the impressive Philips, to hand England the deserved win.
Speaking after the game, Sterling said: “I always said that if I ever play at Wembley in a major tournament, I’m going to score. It’s my back garden, I had to score. There’s a lot of different reasons why I haven’t scored for my club, and that’s totally irrelevant now. I’m here with England, I’m enjoying my football and I’m just delighted to score. It was a lovely weighted pass from Kalvin.
“Have I justified my selection? [Long pause, then a half smile] I’m trying. It’s great to start with a win and hopefully we can build on it. As I said to you, it’s been a long season for me. I couldn’t wait to get here and get started with England because I knew it would be a positive experience.”
