London: Winning their opening match for the first time in a Euro tournament might be looked at as an omen for England and the result was also a payback after Croatia beat England in the semifinal of the last World Cup.
After England had much the better of the match in a 1-0 win, in the presence of 18,500 fans allowed into the stadium for social distancing, their manager, Gareth Southgate said: “I didn’t realise this was the first win in an opening game, so that’s something we’ve managed to achieve that no other (England) team has done. We just focused on ‘What is this team about, where do we want to go, how do we work as a group’, build on the performance and build on the training they’ve all put in the last two weeks.”
He added: “The key was to get pressure on Croatia’s midfield players and we managed to do that. That limited some of the supply and the defenders dealt with the longer balls well and read the game well. It was a day when everybody who got on to the pitch performed well and that was set up by the whole group. They were composed and carried out what we wanted to do brilliantly.”
England began well with high tempo, putting pressure on the opponents who found them difficult to handle and after just six minutes, Phil Foden, on receiving a pass from Raheem Stirling, sent in a wonderful, low curling shot that beat the goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic and struck the inside of the far post.
Two more chances were missed in the first half, first by Kalvin Phillips whose volley was well saved and then a dipping, curling free kick from Mason Mount went just over the bar. But 12 minutes into the second half came the all-important goal. On receiving the ball from right-back Walker, Phillips went past two defenders before sending an inch-perfect pass to Stirling who sped behind the Croatia defence and just as he was about to be tackled by Sime Vrsaljko, he put the ball into the net beating the advancing goalkeeper.
Thereafter, in the 61st minute England could have doubled the lead but Harry Kane was unable to convert a cross by Mason Mount.
Earlier the Croats, who looked far from their best, had begun to enjoy a bit more possession, missed a fine chance when Ivan Perisic beat Kieran Trippier but made a hash of a shooting chance.
Southgate praised Sterling: “I’m so pleased for Raheem. He was dangerous all game. He’s been a reliable performer for us for a long period of time. His goal-scoring record suggests we should have faith in him and I think he was motivated to show that.”
England’s match winner, who grew up as a child in the shadows of Wembley stadium, commented: “It’s good to get on the scoresheet. I’m a person that’s hungry for goals, but at the same time I know the true value of a team”.
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