Jamie Vardy of England celebrates scoring their first goal during the UEFA EURO 2016 Group B match between England v Wales at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on June 16, 2016 in Lens, France.
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Wales would finish second with six points and meet the runners-up from Group F, which contains Portugal, Iceland, Hungary and Austria.
Leicester forward Vardy equalised before, as the clock ticked into stoppage time, Liverpool striker Sturridge stabbed in a victor, which sent social media into overdrive with some 39,000 Tweets per minute.
Leaden-footed defending after Sturridge struck his victor on Thursday nearly allowed Gareth Bale to grab an equaliser, while England goalkeeper Joe Hart was to blame for Bale’s first-half opener from a swirling free-kick.
Had Wales held on for a draw, they would have preserved their grip on top spot in Group B, but Sturridge’s 91st-minute strike meant they slipped to second ahead of their final group game against Russian Federation on Monday.
“Since he’s got back from that injury situation, he did have a very settled period of play when he played on a regular basis and he just picked up that injury in the Europa League final”.
Finishing first would secure an easier last-16 opponent, so the game against a Slovakia side also with first place in its sights is crucial.
Roy Hodgson has hailed Daniel Sturridge after the “special” striker repaid his decision to take him to Euro 2016.
Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana provided support to Harry Kane in Thursday’s clash against Wales in Lens, but it was rather ineffective as the Three Lions conceded a goal from Gareth Bale.
It made the Real Madrid forward the first Wales player to score against England since Mark Hughes, on his debut, in May 1984.
While it meant that Wales were at full strength, they were content to let England, who were unchanged, force the issue and it was Hodgson’s men who bossed the first half on a sunny afternoon in northern France. “Nothing changes. There are a lot of positives we can take and maybe the thing we can improve on is keeping the ball a bit better”. I think we’ve showed what a good squad we’ve got. Do I want Sturridge on? “Vardy? Rashford? Can I bring someone on in midfield to manipulate the ball, etc?’ – which I’m hoping in the future could be very useful for us going further in the tournament”.
Hodgson stopped short of describing the introduction of Leicester City striker Vardy and Sturridge of Liverpool as the best substitutions of his career, but he did predict replacements would play an important role in the Euro 2016 finals. And after his exploits already this season, few would bet against him propelling England deep into the tournament.
“Great credit to the manager”, said Rooney.
“I did not need to risk it as there is another game to go”.
“Ash told us there is still a game left and we are still in it”, said midfielder Ledley. And after going behind we showed great spirit.
“I had no hesitation in putting him on the field at play at halftime today”.
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“Inevitably they will get a couple of chances, and we just did not hold back. He had a couple of sighters, but he doesn’t need too many chances before he gets his name on the scoresheet”.
