KEIR RADNEDGE at WEMBLEY: Gareth Southgate believes England can play even more impressively than in the ’s 5-0 victory over Czech Republic in their opening Euro 2020 Group A qualifier.
England won with a hat-trick from Raheem Sterling, a penalty from captain Harry Kane and an own goal.
Southgate said: “We were a little slow at the start and there was a period at the start of the second half where we lost a bit of tactical discipline that on another night would be punished.
“Otherwise I liked the way we won the ball back quickly and then used it with quality. Some of our attacking play was really exciting. These guys have the potential to reach an even higher level than they did tonight.”
Southgate was delighted with the outstanding performance of Manchester City striker Sterling.
He said: “He is in a really confident mood now on and off the pitch. Now he’s become hungry for goals and he was devastating tonight.”
Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier, who had to be substituted in the first half with a hip injury, will return to his club for treatment and has been rule out of England’s follow-up qualifier away to Montenegro on Monday.
‘Stupid mistakes’
Czech coach Jaroslav Silhavy accepted defeat with good grace and did not waste time after the final whistle looking for hard-luck stories.
He said: “England are a high quality team and five goals was a bit cruel. Our boys worked hard for the whole game but we made some stupid mistakes.
“The high quality of England, especially the attacking players like Sterling and the other young players whose speed was just great, so the difference between us was quite clear.
“We were quite good in the first half and tried our best in the second half after losing a goal just before half-time. But that really broke us. We wanted to turn it around and could have scored at least one goal but when the scoreline reached three then four it was all over.”
Silhavy promised his players would recover quickly from the defeat. They need to: next week they play Brazil.
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