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England national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Sep 7, 2019 at 5pm UK
 
Bulgaria national football team

4-0

Kane (24', 50' pen., 73' pen.), Sterling (55')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Sterling earns praise for England performance

Sterling earns praise for England performance
© Reuters
The Manchester City forward scored one goal and set up another in the win over Bulgaria.

England manager Gareth Southgate and hat-trick hero Harry Kane were both effusive in their praise of Raheem Sterling after the 4-0 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Bulgaria.

The Manchester City forward teed up Kane for the important opening goal and then scored one himself at Wembley.

"He will be disappointed he hasn't got the hat-trick as he thrives on scoring goals," Southgate told ITV.

"I thought he was electric and carried the threat from the first whistle."

Raheem Sterling is congratulated on his goal by Harry Kane
Raheem Sterling is congratulated on his goal by Harry Kane (Tim Goode/PA)

Kane also highlighted the importance of the contribution his fellow goalscorer makes to the team.

"It is great for him, he has taken his club form into internationals the last couple of years," said the Tottenham striker, who converted two penalties in his treble.

"He is an amazing player to play with and he set me up for a nice, easy one and I managed to repay the favour towards the end."

England face main rivals Kosovo on Tuesday and Southgate expects a better performance, especially after a disappointing first half.

"I think it improved as the game went on, we didn't need to over-complicate things really," he added.

"At times there were a few too many touches and we were slow moving the ball and their formation caused us some problems.

"It's certainly not complacency. Generally pleased, especially some of our attacking play was very exciting."

Gareth Southgate had few complaints over England's performance
Gareth Southgate had few complaints over England's performance (Tim Goode/PA)

Kane agreed with his manager but felt with a 100 per cent record after three matches they were right where they wanted to be.

"We are full of confidence and feeling good so hopefully we can start well and get ahead and try to finish it off like we did today," he added.

"I think we will have to press better (against Kosovo), it will be difficult."

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England duo Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling celebrate during the Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria on September 7, 2019
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5 things we learned as England eased past Bulgaria at Wembley
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Cyprus Cyprus00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Norway Norway00000
Q Scotland flag Scotland00000
Q Spain Spain00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France00000
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar00000
3 Greece Greece00000
Q Netherlands Netherlands00000
5 Ireland Rep. Ireland00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England00000
Q Italy Italy00000
3 Malta flag Malta00000
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia00000
5 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group D

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1 Armenia Armenia00000
Q Croatia Croatia00000
3 Latvia Latvia00000
Q Turkey Turkey00000
5 Wales flag Wales00000

Group E

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Q Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands00000
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova00000
5 Poland Poland00000

Group F

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Q Austria Austria00000
2 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan00000
Q Belgium Belgium00000
4 Estonia Estonia00000
5 Sweden Sweden00000

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Bulgaria Bulgaria00000
Q Hungary Hungary00000
3 Lithuania Lithuania00000
4 Montenegro Montenegro00000
Q Serbia Serbia00000

Group H

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2 Finland Finland00000
3 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan00000
4 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland00000
5 San Marino flag San Marino00000
Q Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Andorra flag Andorra00000
2 Belarus Belarus00000
3 Israel Israel00000
4 Kosovo flag Kosovo00000
Q Romania Romania00000
Q Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina00000
2 Iceland Iceland00000
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein00000
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg00000
Q Portugal Portugal00000
Q Slovakia Slovakia00000


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