Daniel Sturridge said his game-winning, stoppage-time goal was “unbelievable” after England rallied to defeat Wales 2-1 at Euro 2016 on Thursday.
The Liverpool striker, introduced at half-time, burst into the penalty area in stoppage time to thread the ball through a crowd of players and inside the near post to seal a 2-1 Group B victory.
Fellow substitute Jamie Vardy had equalised early in the second half after Gareth Bale’s free kick had deceived England goalkeeper Joe Hart to put Wales ahead at half-time.
Sturridge’s goal was his first for England since the World Cup, a span of two years and two days, and he told the BBC: “It’s a great feeling, unbelievable. I’m grateful for the opportunity from the gaffer.
“It’s a beautiful feeling to represent your country in a great rivalry against another country. It’s great. There’s one more game in the group to go so no one’s getting too excited but the atmosphere is unbelievable, and the togetherness between the two countries is amazing.
“It’s a great feeling and hopefully we can go through. Will I start against Slovakia? That’s the gaffer’s decision. I’ll just perform to the best I can in every game.”
Vardy made an impact 11 minutes after the break when he poked the equaliser home from close range after Wales skipper Ashley Williams inadvertently headed the ball to him.
“Everyone wants to be a part of it, but it’s a team game, there’s 23 of us and we are all in it together,” said the Leicester striker.
“To come off the bench, you want to make an impact and I I think I have today.
“We thought we were playing well, so the message at half-time was carry on doing what you are doing and hopefully the goals will come, and they have.
“Wherever we play our fans are nice and loud and sometimes they can be the 12th man.
“Hopefully we can get another win now and top the group.”
Captain Wayne Rooney, playing in midfield again, saluted the character in this England side and the depth in the squad.
“In the first half I thought did okay but we had to move ball the quicker,” said Rooney.
“We were unfortunate to go in one down, in the second half the manager made changes and it paid off.
“We kept probing and got the win in the end, we showed a lot of character today.
“We know as a group of players it’s not just an 11-man team, there are 23 players in squad and we trust each other to do a job.
“We’ve showed we have a good squad with some very exciting players and it was great to win the game like we did.
“We’ve got one game to go and we need to finish the job on Monday. It was a great victory and a fully deserved one.”
