England goalscorer Raheem Sterling hopes that his winner for the national team will prove he belongs in the starting line-up at Euro 2020.
Sterling was picked as part of Gareth Southgate’s attacking setup, alongside Manchester City teammate Phil Foden and Spurs striker Harry Kane.
The forward has found time on the pitch hard to come by on occasion under Pep Guardiola this season, and there have been suggestions that he will leave City in the summer transfer window and that other players should be given the nod ahead of him on international duty.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Sterling said: “It feels good to score. I always said if I played at Wembley at a major tournament I had to score and it’s great to finally do that.
“There’s a lot of different reasons why I haven’t scored for my club and it’s totally irrelevant now. I’m here with England and I’m enjoying my football. That’s the most important thing.
“Have I justified my selection? I’m trying. It’s great to get off to a win and now we have other games to look forward to. It’s been a long season for me but I couldn’t wait to get here and get started with England. With England, I knew it would be a positive one.”
Sterling was also full of praise for the rest of his teammates.
“It’s a great feeling. It was the first game and we needed a win. We stuck together. We headed the ball when we needed to, cleared it when we needed to, and played some good football at times. I thought the boys were brilliant,” he said.
“To be honest, I always said to myself if I come here, growing up two minutes down the road, I know I have to score here. It was a great feeling to actually do it.
“We need to try to build on it and enjoy today. We have to focus. It’s early days. We need to keep winning, have that winning mentality and keep going forward.”
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