England won the Euro 2020 European Championship for the 1st time after Raheem Sterling’s goal against Croatia
England kicked off their highly anticipated Euro 2020 match with a 1-0 win over Croatia to score 3 crucial points in their Group D match at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday.
Raheem Sterling scored the only goal of the match in the 57th minute to help England win the opening match of a European Championship for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Sterling found the back of the net thanks to a brilliant through-ball from Kalvin Phillips. Sterling has been directly involved in 19 goals in his last 17 games for England (13 goals, 6 assists).
He celebrated his second-half strike emphatically as it had the double gloss on it of taking place in familiar surroundings for the 26-year-old.
“It’s a great feeling for me playing at Wembley, not far from where I grew up and seeing the stadium get built. I thought we played brilliantly at times, (it’s) a great start,” he told a news conference.
“I don’t know if there’s pressure in front of your home crowd. It’s an extra boost, exciting to be in front of home fans. We’ve got to live with it and try and use it to our advantage.”
Sterling featured at three previous tournaments for England — two World Cups (2014, 2018) and the 2016 European Championship — but had never found the back of the net.
His goal tally of 14 across all competitions in the most recent season for City was his worst return since the 2016-17 campaign and he found himself in and out of the side that went on to win the Premier League title.
“It’s great to break that duck, I hadn’t scored in a major tournament before,” he said. “I’m a person that’s hungry for goals but I know the value of a team; we dug deep as a team and kept that clean sheet in the end.
“I haven’t tried to listen to any noise outside, just focus on myself and the team,” he added.
Seventeen-year-old midfielder Jude Bellingham, who plays in Germany with Borussia Dortmund, became the youngest-ever player to appear at a European Championship when he came on in the 82nd minute to replace captain Harry Kane. The previous record had been held by Jetro Willems, who was 18 when he played for the Netherlands at Euro 2012.
