Thanks To Sterling's Goal, England Beats The Czechs 1-0 To Win Group D

Raheem Sterling (Image: Twitter @sterling7)

JAKARTA - Raheem Sterling scored again to help the England national team beat the Czech Republic 1-0 in the final match of Group D Euro 2020 at Wembley Stadium, London, Tuesday, 22 June local time (Wednesday, 23 June western Indonesia time).

As reported by Antara, Wednesday, June 23, the victory also ensured England, who had already qualified for the last 16 before the match, won Group D with seven points.

Meanwhile, the Czechs had to settle for only qualifying as one of the best third-placed teams, because they were overtaken by Croatia, who in another match won 3-1 over Scotland.

Croatia finished runners-up in Group D with an advantage on goal difference considering that they are head-to-head balanced with the Czechs who both have four points, according to the official UEFA website.

The certainty of England and the Czechs entering the round of 16 before the football whistle started, making this match change its meaning into a struggle for the top position in Group D.

England continued the trend of chances that hit the opponent's goalpost early in the match, as in the previous two matches experienced by Phil Foden against Croatia and John Stones versus Scotland.

This time, the game was not even two minutes old when Luka Shaw was able to send in a long ball which Sterling tried to finish with a header, but the ball ended up hitting the far post of the Czech goal.

However, England - who are without Mason Mount and Foden because they are both undergoing self-isolation for COVID-19 - did not reduce their fighting spirit and were able to open the scoring in the 12th minute through Sterling's goal.

Jack Grealish sent a cross from the left that hit Vladimir Coufal and bounced past goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik and Sterling met him at the far post to find the Czech goal.

England captain Harry Kane finally had his first shot on target at Euro 2020 after receiving a through ball from Harry Maguire, unfortunately, the finish was denied by Vaclik in the 26th minute.

Two minutes later it was goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's turn to show off his ability to ward off Tomas Holes' long-range shot to secure the England goal.

The Czechs almost scored in the 35th minute when Tomas Soucek fired home from the edge of the box, unfortunately, the ball was still flying thin on the side of the net.

Two minutes before the break, Kane fired back on target with a low shot which Vaclik again blocked and the ball threw up before Sterling could find it, but he was already in an offside position.

After halftime Jordan Henderson made his first appearance at Euro 2020 replacing Declan Rice but the second half ran with relatively few significant chances.

In the 83rd minute, the Czechs came close to equalizing using Pickford's poor clearance which was cut short by Adam Hlozek, unfortunately, Tomas Pekhart's finish on the situation deviated from the target.

Three minutes later Henderson successfully netted the ball into the Czech goal using the chaos in the penalty box, unfortunately, the goal was disallowed because he was already standing in an offside position.

England will face the runners-up in Group F in the last 16, meaning they are in danger of meeting one of the strongest teams between France, Germany, or Portugal.

While the Czechs still have to wait for all the group stage matches to finish before knowing where and against whom they will compete in the round of 16.