Raheem Sterling out of England game after ‘disturbance’ with teammate Joe Gomez
Written by News on 12/11/2019
Raheem Sterling has been removed from England’s European qualifier against Montenegro after a row with a teammate at the Three Lions’ training complex.
England manager Gareth Southgate said “emotions were still raw” after Sterling was involved in a clash with Joe Gomez towards the end of Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Premier League title rivals Manchester City on Sunday.
A day later the pair clashed in a “private team area” at St George’s Park – an incident the FA has described as a “disturbance”.
Sterling was subsequently withdrawn from selection for England’s game at Wembley on Thursday.
Southgate said: “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.”
Commenting on the incident, Sterling wrote on Instagram: “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.
“This is why we play the sport, because of our love for it. Me and Joe 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.”
England play Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday before facing Kosovo away on Sunday, needing just a point from the two games to qualify for Euro 2020.
(c) Sky News 2019: Raheem Sterling out of England game after ‘disturbance’ with teammate Joe Gomez
