Raheem Sterling believes UEFA should punish alleged racist chanting aimed at England players in Monday’s 5-1 win over Montenegro in Podgorica with a stadium closure.
Manchester City’s Sterling celebrated the visitors’ fifth goal by cupping his ears toward the home fans on a night when another impressive performance to start Euro 2020 qualifying by the Three Lions was overshadowed.
“I just want to show them you need more than that to upset us and stop us,” Sterling told Sky Sports. “It’s 2019 now, I keep saying it. It’s a shame to see this going on and we can only bring awareness to the situation.”
Photo: Reuters
“It’s now time for the people in charge to put a real stamp on it because you can fine someone, but what is that going to do?” he said. “You’ve got to make it a bit harder, punish fans that can’t come to games. Do something that’s going to make them think twice. If their team can’t play with fans, it’s going to be difficult.”
Sterling also tweeted a photograph of his celebration with the message: “Best way to silence the haters (and yeah I mean racists).”
England manager Gareth Southgate said he heard racist chants aimed at Danny Rose and promised to report the issue to UEFA.
Photo: Reuters
“There is no doubt in my mind it happened. We will make sure that is reported to UEFA because it’s not acceptable,” Southgate said. “We’ve got to make sure we support our players.”
On the pitch, the World Cup semi-finalists showed why they are among the favorites to be champions next year.
Southgate’s trust in youth was again rewarded as 18-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi, who is yet to start an English Premier League game for Chelsea, shone on his full international debut, while Declan Rice, 20, was also handed his first England start.
“Fabulous performance,” Southgate said of Hudson-Odoi. “With young players it is always up to them. You can see the talent, his application has been excellent. He’s got to continue that.”
England are not used to falling behind these days, but showed a resilience to bounce back after Marko Vesovic turned inside Michael Keane and curled past Jordan Pickford on 17 minutes.
Keane made amends for his earlier error with a commanding header from Ross Barkley’s free-kick on the half-hour mark to settle England’s nerves.
Nine minutes later, Barkley applied the finishing touch after Hudson-Odoi’s positive run into the penalty area and shot, which his club teammate turned in from close range.
Further goals from Barkley, Harry Kane and Sterling rounded off an excellent start to qualifying for England after a 5-0 thrashing of the Czech Republic on Friday last week.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to