Gareth Southgate credits England players as they make winning start to European Championships

Gareth Southgate reckoned that his England players deserved credit after beating Croatia 1-0 in their opening match of the European Championships.

The former Crystal Palace defender opted to leave South London-born Jadon Sancho out of the squad.

The result meant it was the first time that the Three Lions have won their opening match at the Euros.

England’s winning goal came when Kalvin Phillips cleverly picked out Raheem Sterling, who fired past Dominik Livakovic in the Croatia goal.

Speaking to the BBC, Southgate said: “It feels lovely to have given our fans and our country a really enjoyable afternoon.

“Huge credit has to go to the players, they dealt with the big occasion really well.

“Right from the start, despite the heat they settled into the game. There were moments where the tempo dropped because of the heat, but for the majority of the game we were in control.

“Raheem is a good player, and his goalscoring record suggests that we should have faith in him.

“The backline coped very well. With Croatia, the key is to put pressure on their midfielders and we did that. That limits some of the supply. The defenders dealt with the long balls well and were composed in the build ups.

“It was a day where everyone who got on to the pitch played well.

“This is a tough group, there are different sorts of challenges. Scotland and the Czech Republic are good sides. We’re pleased with today, it’s a good start. But we still have to get points to qualify [for the knockouts].”