Raheem Sterling dropped by England after training ground incident
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Manchester City and England star Raheem Sterling has been dropped by Gareth Southgate for England’s Euro Qualifier against Montenegro. The 24-year-old was involved in an incident with Liverpool defender Joe Gomez with Southgate admitting that things got heated between the two.
Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling has been dropped by England for their clash against Montenegro after a training ground incident with Liverpool defender Joe Gomez, Sky Sports reported. The two players reportedly met up for England duty on Monday and an incident after that led to Sterling’s withdrawal from the squad with him in line to make the cut for their next game against Kosovo.
However, this is the second incident that has taken place between the two with Gomez and Sterling clashing heads on the field during Sunday’s Liverpool vs Manchester City clash. No details of the second incident between both players have been released but Gareth Southgate went on to admit that a decision was made and Sterling will not play.
"We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday. One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we've been able to separate club rivalries from the national team. Unfortunately, the emotions of yesterday's game were still raw. My feeling is that the right thing for the team is the action we have taken. Now that the decision has been made with the agreement of the entire squad, it's important that we support the players and focus on Thursday night,” said the English boss, reports Sky Sports.
The ban does mean that Sterling will miss England's 1000th game with Gomez potentially in line to start the clash. But the two players have apparently figured things out and moved on, with Sterling even going on to admit that both him and Gomez did indeed have words. The Manchester City forward further admitted that emotions got in the way and that neither player wants to blow the incident out of proportion.
"First and foremost everyone knows what that game means to me. Everyone knows that I am not that way inclined and more to the point, both Joe and I have had words and figured things out and moved on. We are in a sport where emotions run high and I am man enough to admit when emotions got the better of me. We move, this is why we play this sport because of our love for it. Me and Joe Gomez are good, we both understand it was a 5-10 second thing. It's done, we move forward and not make this bigger than it is. Let's get focus on our game on Thursday,” Sterling said reported Sky Sports.
