Raheem Sterling admitted he was intent on scoring at Wembley for England in an international tournament, following his winning strike against Croatia.
The Manchester City star was a surprise starter for England in their Euro 2020 opener against Croatia, but vindicated his selection by scoring the only goal of the game, giving the Three Lions a deserved 1-0 win.
City's Phil Foden also started and hit the post early on, as England started well. They went quiet for a little while towards the break but Sterling latched onto Kalvin Phillips' pass to tuck the ball home on 57 minutes, which proved enough for a vital win.
Speaking after the game, which was played out in front of 22,500 at England's home ground Wembley — a stone's throw from where Sterling grew up in North London — the winger said: "I've always said if I played at Wembley in a major tournament I am scoring, in my back garden I said 'I have to score' and it feels great to do that.
"There is a lot of different reasons I haven't scored with my club and that is irrelevant now, I'm here with England, I'm enjoying my football and that is the most important thing.
"Have I justified my selection?" he added, with a smile. "I’m trying, I'm trying.
"It's great to get off to a win and now we have other games to look forward to. It's been a long season for me but I couldn't wait to get here and get started with England. With England, I knew it would be a positive one. "
Both Sterling and Southgate showered with praise by the pundits after the game.
Former England striker Alan Shearer told BBC Sport: "I'm not saying Raheem Sterling is going to go on and score loads of goals but that decision today took a lot of courage.
"Gareth knows him, he's worked with him and worked with him in training. Raheem never let him down and Gareth stood by him today and that has worked really well."
