BELIEF SET IN STONES AFTER WIN OVER GERMANY
John says that defeating old rivals in the Euros gave him confidence that England COULD be a major force
JOHN STONES remembers it as the day when England began to believe.
It was at the Euros 12 months ago, when England beat their biggest football rivals at Wembley.
The Three Lions finally defeated Germany in a knockout tournament to reach the quarter-finals and it convinced Stones (battling Thomas Mueller,
above) they were a force to be reckoned with.
Now they face Germany again in the Allianz Arena, hoping for another moraleboosting victory and performance to set the mood just six months before the World Cup.
Stones, 28, said: “It was probably the turning point in that tournament of feeling the belief we could go on and try and win this. That was a big game – a lot of history behind us playing Germany.
“For us to play against top-tier opposition and play the way we did gave us the belief we can compete with these teams and players on a regular basis.
“In the past, I’ve had a feeling it’s a difficult fixture, and I feel the mentality has changed. We know we are capable of winning this game. So there’s a big shift in the mentality.
“The summer in general was one of the best moments in my career, definitely. What was it, six weeks away from my family? It was difficult times, Covid was still involved.
“That and the World Cup are up there for me. Being at Wembley made it even more special.”
Manchester City defender Stones goes into the Nations League on the back of a rollercoaster finish to the season, winning the title but missing games in the run-in, due to injury, and also losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final.
But ahead of a huge game for England, Stones insisted he had no issue with the scheduling of the Nations League games because every cap should be cherished ( James Justin and Jarrod Bowen receiving their first caps from Gareth Southgate, below).
There was a time when Stones did not believe he would reach 50 caps after missing 10 England games between November 2019 and March 2021. He has now got 56 caps but was stuck on 39 during that long international absence.
He said: “I had a dream as a kid, playing for England, trying to get 50 caps and I have made that come true. I didn’t think I would.
“I was not playing and never thought I would get that opportunity again so, for me, whatever games we have got I am always extremely proud to be called up by England.
“I cannot remember how long I was out of the team but I was not playing at City and you have to be playing and playing well to be called up.
“I did not know if I would get called back up and I used that as a kind of motivation to get back in.”
Considering his campaign with City, Stones added: “I enjoyed the season a lot. I always talk about learning but it’s the only way I can reflect on me personally and how I can move forward.
“It was difficult going out of the Champions League, which kind of paused things a lot within ourselves. The flight back after the game… we had been in a good position.
“We’ve not had many big set-backs but it made our winning mentality even stronger to go and win the Premier League. We left it late, that’s all I can say!”