Football

Raheem Sterling dropped from England qualifier by Gareth Southgate after Joe Gomez bust-up


Raheem Sterling will not be considered for England’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro on Thursday following a fresh bust-up with Liverpool’s Joe Gomez.

The England duo clashed in a heated exchange during Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Manchester City on Sunday.

And the bad blood spilled over when they both arrived at St George’s Park for England duty.

It first started as some friendly jesting about the result but the situation soon escalated, leaving England team-mates stunned.

The pair – who were at Anfield alongside each other for a month before Sterling moved to the Etihad in 2015 – had to be pulled apart by their England team-mates.

And the FA have now taken the decision to pull Sterling out of Thursday’s match against Montenegro.

The FA released a statement which referred to a “disturbance” during a team meeting.

“The FA can confirm Raheem Sterling will not be considered for Thursday’s EURO 2020 qualifier against Montenegro as a result of a disturbance in a private team area at St George’s Park today,” the statement read.

“He will remain with the squad.”

Gareth 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.”

The statement suggests Sterling could still play some part in the trip to Kosovo on Sunday (5pm).



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