Raheem Sterling Posts Statement After Being Dropped From England for Bust-Up With Joe Gomez
By Tom Gott
Raheem Sterling has been dropped from the England squad to face Montenegro on Thursday after an altercation with teammate Joe Gomez during a training session.
The two players confronted one another towards the end of Liverpool's 3-1 win over Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, and it appears as though the bad blood has spilled over into England duty.
Following reports of the bust-up on Monday, the FA confirmed that Sterling had been dropped from the squad, with the organisation only describing the incident as a 'disturbance in a private team area.'
“We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday," manager Gareth Southgate confirmed.
“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.”
Sky Sports noted that Sterling had been dropped because of a clash with Gomez, in which the City man went to grab Gomez round the neck and asked "you think you're the big man now?". Sterling appeared to confirm the 'five to ten-second' incident in an apology on Instagram.
"First and foremost everyone knows what that game means to me," he said. "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."
Gomez did seek out Southgate personally to try and convince him to keep Sterling in contention for the Montenegro game, but the boss was undeterred.
England are yet to seal qualification for Euro 2020, but their fate is still very much in their own hands. Victory against Montenegro on Thursday would book their place in the competition, while a poor result for Kosovo against the Czech Republic on the same night would also be enough for the Three Lions.