ENGLAND 5, CZECH REPUBLIC 0
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling finally transferred his scintillating club form to an international stage.
Sterling, who has so often disappointed for the national side, scored his first hat-trick to help England handsomely beat the Czech Republic and make a winning start to their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.
And Sterling became the first England player to score a treble at Wembley since 2010 as he took his tally of international goals from four to seven in the space of 44 minutes.
It was also the second hat-trick of manager Gareth Southgate’s reign following on from Harry Kane’s in last summer’s finals of the World Cup against Panama.
Hardly a surprise, therefore, Sterling was named man of the match as England recorded their joint highest win under manager Gareth Southgate on a record-breaking night.
Chelsea teenager Callum Hudson-Odoi became the youngest debutant for England in a competitive match at 18 years and 135 days, beating the record set by Manchester United legend Duncan Edwards.
England finished with wingers Jadon Sancho and Hudson-Odoi on the pitch, two members of England’s U17 World Cup winning squad of 2017, a side that also included Manchester City’s Phil Foden.
It proved a stroll against opponents who were expected to be the toughest opponents in group A which also includes Bulgaria, Kosovo and Montenegro.
Embed from Getty ImagesSouthgate was delighted after England are now unbeaten in 19 Euro qualifiers since 2007, winning the last 11.
And he was especially pleased for Sterling describing his display as “devastating”.
He said: “Raheem is in a confident moment on and off the pitch.
“I was delighted with the reaction from the crowd because we cannot hide he has had difficult times here, but he has turned the corner.
“His finishes in Spain and tonight showed he is not thinking about them. We have seen the though process in the past, but he has added goals to his game.
“He was devastating and a special night for him.”
Southgate said he was “nit-picking” when finding fault, a slow start to each half, especially the second when he said chances conceded would have been punished by a better side.
“I say that because these guys have the potential to play to a higher level than tonight,” he said.
Czech coach Jaroslav Silhavy said: “To lose by five goals is cruel. We made stupid mistakes, but England has high quality forward players like Sterling and several other young players.
“The high quality of our opponent was why they scored five. The difference between us was quite clear.”
It was a measure of the wind of change that only three players from the opening qualifier for Euro 2016 remained – Jordan Henderson, Danny Rose and Sterling.
And the squad had continued to evolve since last summer’s World Cup when England reached the semi-finals.
Southgate’s 22-man squad included debutants Declan Rice and Hudson-Odoi while it also included relative international novices James Ward-Prowse and James Tarkowski.
Gordon Banks, England’s greatest goalkeeper who recently died was remembered before kick off with one minute’s applause.
After a quiet opening, England were forced into a 17th minute change after Eric Dier limped off to be replaced by Ross Barkley.
An expectant Wembley crowd had to wait until midway through the opening period for the first goal attempt.
It went to the Czechs as Pavel Kaderabek broke and set up captain Vladamir Dardia who fired over.
England went ahead with their first goal attempt in the 24th minute when Harry Kane released Jadon Sancho on the right and Sterling slid in at the far post to convert his cross from inside the six-yard box.
It was his fifth goal in his 48th senior appearance for England.
England doubled their lead in stoppage time through a Kane penalty, his 21st international goal and his 14th in 16 matches as captain.
It was awarded after Sterling was sandwiched in-between Kadelabek and Tomas Kalas.
The Czechs almost halved the deficit soon after the restart when Tomas Soucek’s flying header from Darida’s free kick flashed just wide of the upright.
And from the resulting corner David Pavelka fired straight at keeper Jordan Pickford when he ough to have found the net as England suddenly began to live dangerously.
England were almost gifted a third goal in bizarre fashion when Darida’s clearance struck Kaderabek and forced a decent diving save from Jiri Pavlenka.
And they went close against when Sterling and Kane who set up Sancho whose goalbound shot was blocked by Filip Novak.
The third goal finally arrived just after the hour when Kyle Walker burst forward and his deflected pass found Sterling who produced a super turn before bending in a terrific shot.
Southgate immediately made his first change as Dele Alli was replaced by Rice for his first cap.
Sterling completed his hat-trick with 22 minutes left.
Barkley burst forward and found Sterling whose shot deflected off Ondrej Celustka and wrongfooted keeper Pavlenka, but Sterling will be claiming the goal.
Sterling immediately made way for Hudson-Odoi, another debutant.
The Czechs kept battling and highly-rated striker Patrik Schick bent a shot just wide of the upright and substitute Matej Vydra went close.
England were ever dangerous on the break as Kane forced a fine diving save from Pavlenka to prevent a fifth goal.
The fifth goal came in the 84th minute when Hudson-Odoi’s shot was well saved by Pavlenka but the loose ball struck the hapless Kalas and trickled into the empty net which completed a miserable night for the visitors.