GUIMARAES (Portugal) • Raheem Sterling is set to lead England out for the first time at today's Nations League semi-final against the Netherlands.
The Manchester City forward will be handed the honour as a reward for a half-century of appearances, casting doubt over whether Champions League finalists Harry Kane, who is the regular skipper, and Jordan Henderson will start.
The pair are among seven players in Gareth Southgate's 23-man team who reported for duty only this week after their involvement in Madrid last Saturday.
While the England manager may be tempted to select players with whom he has trained more extensively over the past few weeks for the encounter with Ronald Koeman's men, Sterling is considered to be one of the first names on his team sheet.
The former Middlesbrough boss has elevated him into his core "leadership group" in recent times and has spoken of his qualities.
He said of the 24-year-old in March: "When you speak to other young players, he's one of the first they speak about making them feel really comfortable in the environment.
"We've had three or four players captaining the team, and Raheem is developing lots of the qualities those guys have."
Although Southgate has stipulated he would have no qualms about throwing Kane into the fray, the Tottenham striker still lacks match fitness. He started in their 2-0 Champions League final loss to Liverpool after not playing since early April following ankle ligament damage.
There are alternative options, however, with a prospective front three of Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Sterling, and a midfield trio of Fabian Delph, Declan Rice and Ross Barkley.
Calling Sterling "an amazing young man", Delph feels the recognition his City teammate is getting is fully deserved and there is more to come.
He added: "I still believe he's operating at about 80 per cent. So if he can push himself a bit more, which I know he will because his mindset is very good, the sky's the limit in the next couple of years."
This Nations League tournament in Portugal presents England a real chance of silverware for the first time since Le Tournoi in 1997, but in their way stand a resurgent Dutch side.
HIGH PRAISE
When you speak to other young players, he's one of the first they speak about making them feel really comfortable in the environment. We've had three or four players captaining the team, and Raheem is developing lots of the qualities those guys have.
GARETH SOUTHGATE, England coach, on Raheem Sterling's qualities.
The Oranje have had a lean few years after failing to make it to last year's World Cup and Euro 2016, but with a golden crop of young players, there are few fears they will miss out for a third consecutive major tournament.
The Netherlands have already shown their promise in knocking out world champions France and Germany to make the last four of the Nations League.
There were also as many Dutch players as English players (two) in Liverpool's starting XI as they lifted their sixth European Cup and Koeman is confident he can keep Southgate's men at bay as "we have the best centre defenders with Matthijs de Ligt and Virgil van Dijk".
The former Everton boss said: "In the last few years, yes, it is the best generation, but they are just starting. We are on a good way back to where we would like to stay as a country."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE GUARDIAN
England captain Harry Kane has his heart set on ending his playing career in the United States kicking field goals for a team in the National Football League (NFL). Kane, the top scorer at last year's FIFA World Cup, has long been an admirer of American football and believes successfully switching sports late in his career will help him go down
Harry Kane plans to end sporting career as NFL kicker
Watch Chicago Cubs MLB live stream - NBC Sports
stream.nbcsports.com/rsn/nbcs-chicago-cubs
How to watch the Chicago Cubs MLB live streams
How to Watch Cubs Games Online Without Cable 2019 | Heavy.com
Football: Rangers out of Europa League, Eintracht fans run
A wolf will become hostile towards a player or other mob that attacks it, unless the attacker is the wolf's owner or is otherwise on the same team, and will also cause wild wolves and standing tamed wolves in a 33×33×21 cuboid centered on the attacked wolf to become hostile towards the attacker.
Wolf Facts - Wolf Pack
SAO PAULO (AP) -- A Brazilian hospital says Pele is ''recovering well'' after undergoing surgery to remove kidney stones. The Albert Einstein hospital said in a statement Friday that the 74-year
"Kidney Disease is Gone" | Natural Secret That Work
AD
HealKidneyDisease.com
Report Ad
No Dialysis & Surgery. Lower creatinine levels solutions for stages 1-4
THE NANYANG. CHRONICLE. VOL. NO. 24. 03 16.10.17. ISSN NO. 0218-7310. Taking IKEA by Strรถm. Students play to their beat. In defense of millennials. Students from the School of Art, Design and
Mitra - Find link - edwardbetts.com
edwardbetts.com/find_link/Mitra
Sombhu Mitra (989 words) exact match in snippet view article find links to article Sombhu Mitra (22 August 1915 - 19 May 1997) was an Indian film and stage actor, director, playwright, reciter and an Indian theatre personality, known
Malaysia | Thoughts of a Cynical Investor | Page 2
Socceroos will bounce back, declares Arnold the Socceroos most certainly have Palestine covered. But the same was true last week in Al Ain, when a ferocious and focused Jordanian outfit pulled
Socceroos beat Palestine, live to fight another day at Asian Cup
After releasing multiple image teasers, Girl's Day released the music video teaser for their comeback track "Ring My Bell" on July 3rd.. With the four-member group's silhouette in front of a black and white background, the teaser showcased that the track includes fun and funky beats.
Sheridan: Kyrie Irving on His Future: "Ask Me July 1" | Get
Brazilian soccer great Pele had a successful operation to remove a kidney stone on Saturday, doctors in Sao Paulo said. Pele had the surgery at the Israelite Albert Einstein hospital. "The procedure was a success and the patient is back in his room," a brief statement from doctors said.
Pele recovering well after kidney stone operation - ewn.co.za
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has admitted sending a member of his coaching staff to spy on Derby County ahead of their Championship (second-tier) match on Friday. Derby said earlier that local police had spoken to a person acting suspiciously outside their training ground on Thursday.
Leeds: Marcelo Bielsa admits sending spy to Derby training
After the annus horribilis that was 2017, the only way is up for Singapore football. So with the New Year upon us, here are five hopeful wishes for the local game in 2018. 1. Build a star overseas
Albirex Niigata sweep Singapore football awardsagain
0 comments:
Post a Comment