“Gareth Southgate announces England line-up for Euro 2024 Qualification without Raheem Sterling”

Jakarta –

Coach England national team, Gareth Southgate has announced the line-up prepared for the continuation Euro 2024 Qualification next month. Surprise comes when there is no name Raheem Sterling over there.

Sterling last played for The Three Lions at the 2022 World Cup, when he came on as a substitute in the quarter-final against France. When England met Italy and Ukraine in March, he was absent because of a hamstring injury.

This time the write-off was also caused by physical problems. The Chelsea winger is feeling unwell. This was revealed by Southgate in a press conference.

“I spoke to him about a week ago, he wasn’t happy with his physical condition. He had a hamstring problem. He wasn’t even under consideration, so we weren’t thinking about whether he should be called up or not,” Southgate said, quoted by Sky Sports.

“He doesn’t think he is at the level he should be,” explained the 52-year-old coach.

Apart from Sterling, Southgate also did not call up Brentford striker Ivan Toney, who was involved in a gambling case. That’s the case with Ben White, although the coach has reportedly been in contact with him. The Arsenal defender was involved in the 2022 World Cup, but returned home in the middle of the tournament for personal reasons.

Eberechi Eze has the opportunity to make his debut with England. He was called up by the national team two years ago, but never got the chance to appear and was just called up again now. Lewis Dunk also returned to the national team after an absence of more than 4.5 years.

There are no significant changes other than those mentioned above. The rest are familiar names. England will play Malta on June 16, then host North Macedonia at Old Trafford three days later.

England squad for Euro 2024 qualifiers in June:

Kiper: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Bek: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), John Stones, Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)

Midfielder: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (West Ham United)

Attacker: Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Callum Wilson (Newcastle United)

(adp/bay)