Gareth Southgate has released the England squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers
On Wednesday, coach Gareth Southgate announced the England squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers, which included Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze who received his first senior call-up for England. Eze was the only player in the 25-man selection who had not previously played for the national team. The team will play two games in Group C, one away to Malta and the other at home to North Macedonia.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s defender Lewis Dunk, who has only played for England once in 2018, was selected for the team, as well as Aston Villa’s defender Tyrone Mings who was called back. However, Chelsea’s forward Raheem Sterling was not included in the squad.
England is leading Group C as they have won both their matches against Italy and Ukraine, with Eze, a former Queens Park Rangers player, being in impressive form for Palace, having scored six goals in his last eight games. Southgate mentioned that Eze would have been included in the previous squad if he had not suffered an injury setback.
“We have liked him for a long time,” Southgate told a press conference. “He has finished the season really strongly and plays in a couple of positions across the attacking line and has a burst of speed to go past people and take people out of the game with his dribbling skills.”
Southgate explained that Dunk and Mings were selected for the team due to their impressive performances for their respective clubs, which finished the season strongly. Brighton qualified for Europe, while Villa is expected to follow suit. Southgate also stated that it was a straightforward decision to exclude Sterling, who has 82 caps.
“I spoke with him a week or so ago. A general catch-up. He is not happy with his condition physically, carrying a hamstring problem. He wasn’t really in consideration because he doesn’t think he is operating at the level he needs,” the coach said.
Southgate provided reassurance to Ivan Toney, the Brentford striker who appeared as a substitute in the match against Ukraine but was subsequently suspended for eight months due to over 100 violations of the FA’s betting regulations.
“When he comes back, if he plays well, then we’ll pick him,” Southgate said. “I think he’ll have additional motivation through what he’s experiencing and he’s a resilient guy with great character and we are here to support him.”
Southgate stated that he had not thought about giving some of his experienced players a break for two seemingly easy matches. The squad includes five Manchester City players who will participate in the Champions League final just a few days before the Malta game on June 16.
“I don’t think the rest of the world will be (resting players) and we’ve played North Macedonia at home twice and never beaten them,” Southgate said.
“I think we could easily fall into the trap – to be a top team, to be European champions we need to nail the fixtures, like we did in March.”
Squad: Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Sam Johnstone. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lewis Dunk, Marc Guehi, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker. Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, James Maddison, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice. Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Callum Wilson.
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