Raheem Sterling on Euro 2020: It was class we went to the final but we want to win

Sterling was instrumental in helping England reach the Euro 2020 final, which they ultimately lost out to Italy in a penalty shootout.

File photo - Raheem Sterling celebrates his goal against Germany; Credit: Twitter@EURO2020
By Karthik Raman | Oct 7, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling is content with reaching the final of the Euro 2020, but not happy with returning home empty-handed. Sterling was instrumental in helping England reach the Euros final, which they ultimately lost out to Italy in a penalty shootout at Wembley. He was the country’s main goal threat, scoring crucial goals against Croatia, Czech Republic and Germany. When asked is there still pride about what the team achieved at the Euros or whether there is a hint of regret they could not go one step further? Sterling told Sky Sports News: “Bit of both, you still have people saying congratulations or something and it’s like… there’s not much to congratulate as we didn’t win.”

“That’s the great thing within the squad, we’re not happy with doing well and putting on a show for the country, we genuinely wanted to come home with that trophy and that’s the mentality in the squad now. It was class we went to the final but we want to win, we want to make history and I think that’s the message since day one when Gareth (Southgate) came in.”

Raheem Sterling on his debut

Sterling is only 26 years old, yet his England career has already covered nearly nine years and 70 caps. Speaking about his debut in the 4-2 friendly defeat to Sweden on November 14, 2012, at just 17 years of age, he said, “It was good… and it was bad. Obviously we lost, it was when Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored that famous overhead kick. When you say nine years, I didn’t think it was that long ago…it’s been quite the journey.”

He fondly remembers one match for England – the 3-2 Nations League victory over Spain in Seville in October 2018. “It was my two goals against Spain. That was the real shift, with the general public and my football for England,” Sterling said.

“When I first went into the England squad, I was there with pure excitement and joy – difficult patches came about like with any profession, but it’s about how you overcome those and I said every time I went there, I went with the mentality to try and do well, no matter what was going on. To finally see that come into play is a great feeling.”

Raheem Sterling on Gareth Southgate

Sterling also spoke about working with head coach Gareth Southgate, who arrived in 2016. “I feel like when I first went into the camp, it was very much them versus us, the media versus the players,” Sterling said.

“When Gareth came in, he made it very clear what his intentions were, they were to make England challenge on all fronts, make us challenge at Euros and World Cups. If we were to do that, we had to change the perception in the media, public and us the players – we all had to be one if we wanted to achieve something with the national team.

“From the moment he [Southgate] came in – he really tried to work on building that relationship with the media and the fans and I think he’s done a fantastic job at doing that. The relationship-building Southgate has done since his tenure began has clearly paid dividends, not just based on results on the field but also for the players themselves as well.

“I think the fans are reconnected with the players again and you can see it when you go into the games, the players feel loved. Going into the games, even in the summer, you didn’t feel any pressure. People might say ‘you played every game at Wembley’, but that’s huge pressure as you’re at home and people expect things from you.”





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