The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Euro first as Three Lions roar revenge
Gareth Southgate was delighted to put smiles on the faces of fans across the nation as England won their opening match in a European Championship for the first time.
Three years on from the heartbreaking World Cup semi-final loss to Croatia, the Three Lions exacted some sort of revenge by giving Zlatko Dalic’s men a bloody nose at the start of Euro 2020.
Raheem Sterling’s first tournament goal – and England’s first at Wembley in front of fans since November 2019 – was enough to secure a 1-0 win in sweltering conditions.
It was an ideal start to Group D at a difficult time for the country, with Southgate pleased by his side’s display against wily opposition.
“It feels great to have been able to send the fans home happy and to have fans up and down the country happy,” the England manager said. “That’s very special.
“In terms of the game, I was really pleased with the way we settled so quickly.
“Some young players, some inexperienced international players, a big occasion – not only a tough opponent but a big occasion, a sweltering hot day.
“Every reason to potentially look nervous at the start but they didn’t.
“With and without the ball they were composed, carried out what we wanted to do in terms of pressing brilliantly.
“Although it was always going to be a game of few clear chances, I thought we looked the bigger threat throughout, really.”
Southgate was happy for man-of-the-match Sterling after he scored his first tournament goal, saying he set the tone and was phenomenal without the ball, and heaped praise on “outstanding” midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
The pair were among a number of strong individual performers that put England in the driving seat in Group D, but Southgate knows complacency cannot be allowed to creep in before they face Scotland on Friday.
“This is the big challenge for us now because of course we’re delighted with the win and the players are happy,” the former defender said.
“It’s a positive step in terms of qualification, but one of the hardest things in sport is to come back to that point you were at before the kick-off for the next game.
“You can get a bit of a glow of the win and a bit soft, a bit puddingy when you poke your finger in the belly.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re ready for what is going to be an incredible game against Scotland and a huge challenge.
“We should enjoy tonight because I think you have to enjoy your wins, especially in tournaments, but focus now. Our first objective is qualification. We haven’t done that yet and we have a very important game for us and our fans on Friday night.”
• Austria struck twice late on to ensure North Macedonia’s debut at a major tournament ended in a spirited 3-1 defeat in Romania.
• In the late game last night, the Netherlands beat Ukraine 3-2 in an enthralling game.
An end-to-end first half somehow ended goal-less but there would be five goals after the break.
Gini Wijnaldum and Wout Weghorst gave the Dutch a 2-0 lead before Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk fired back. Denzel Dumfries then headed the winner.