Sterling nets, England win 2021 EURO opener against Croatia

Euro 2020: Sterling goal, England defeats Croatia win EURO opener for first time in 2021.

England's Euro 2020 campaign got off to a satisfactory start as Raheem Sterling's goal secured victory over Croatia at Wembley.

Sterling repaid England manager Gareth Southgate's faith in him, sliding in the winner after 57 minutes following a perfect pass from man-of-the-match Kalvin Phillips.

The Three Lions almost took an early lead when Phil Foden struck a post but there were the first signs of frustration from fans and players just as Sterling made the decisive contribution with his first goal in a major tournament.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was barely tested by a disappointing Croatia side, who never looked like repeating their victory over England in the 2018 World Cup semi-final in Moscow - leaving England with three points to take into Friday's second Group D game against Scotland at Wembley.

Bellingham sets new Three Lions record - the stats. 

England won their opening game of a European Championship finals at the 10th attempt (D5, L4).

Croatia have lost eight of their 14 games in all competitions since the start of 2020 (W4 D2); before this, they had lost just eight of their previous 33 matches (W17 D8).

England have won seven consecutive matches across all competitions for the first time since March 2015 under Roy Hodgson.

Raheem Sterling has been directly involved in 19 goals in his last 17 appearances for England (13 goals, six assists).

Jude Bellingham (17 years and 349 days) became the youngest ever player to appear in the European Championship finals for any nation, and the youngest English player to play in any major tournament (World Cup & Euros).

Follow to More at ... Sportshistori.com .....