Towards the end of a fairly torrid first 15 minutes at Wembley for Croatia, Mateo Kovacic shuffled away from his penalty area with the ball at his feet and boos swelled up.

It was notable that the England supporters had not had cause to goad any significant spell of Croatian possession up until that point. Still, on Kovacic went and found the normally sure-footed Marcelo Brozovic, who duffed the ball out of play.

England gained a measure of revenge for their World Cup semi-final defeat to these opponents three years ago in the 2018-19 Nations League, but the more comparable stakes of this Euro 2020 opener meant talk of a rematch dominated the build-up.

In Moscow, Luka Modric and his midfield cohort deftly cut away England's early advantage via a thousand passes (well, 594 if we're being sticklers for the statistics over 120 minutes) to reach the final.

The spectacle of the Three Lions surrendering central areas to a technically proficient team was very familiar, for all that Gareth Southgate's side threatened a new beginning.

In the interim period, particularly the 12-month delay to the start of this tournament, the England manager has churned through plenty of squad turnover, with fresh faces not scarred by that agonising near-miss.

But new men repeating old mistakes is no way to end 55 years of hurt, and there was something of that in the much-discussed team sheet that Southgate produced.

Vibrant attacking talents such as Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho – the latter not even making the bench – having to look on as a two-man defensive midfield shield lined up, were unpopular notes of caution at a time of national fervour.

Yorkshire Pirlo purrs on the big stage

But having Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips manning central areas was key to passages of play such as Kovacic and Brozovic's ponderous exchange unfolding, as Phil Foden rattled the post and England threatened to fly out of the blocks.

Modric dropped deep to apply a measure of control before the interval and Chelsea's Kovacic found a smooth rhythm, but not to the extent they escaped Phillips. Freed from his usual holding role, the Leeds United man was everywhere – even flagged offside, something that never happened to him during the whole 2020-21 domestic season.

From the Stockport Iniesta to the Yorkshire Pirlo, this England team have their share of daft nudge-wink nicknames (shhhh, Modric might think they're being arrogant) but Phillips did all he could to live up to his, completing 95 per cent of his passes in the opposition half.

Bolstered by Mason Mount's clever movement and use of the ball, Croatia's midfield maestros were never allowed to enjoy Wembley's vast expanses.

That is not to say everything Southgate plumped for worked. Harry Kane was a worryingly marginal presence and only had two touches in the Croatia box. With one of those, he failed to convert at the back post when found by a brilliant Mount cross – the sort of first-time delivery usually not available as Kieran Trippier, the right-back playing at left-back, who checked back on to his stronger foot time and again.

But arguably Southgate's most disputed call proved decisive.

Sterling sounds righteous roar for Three Lions

Amid clamour for the dazzling Grealish to be unleashed, popular opinion had turned against Raheem Sterling's presence in the England attack. As Manchester City claimed a third Premier League title in four seasons, he became an unusually bit-part player for Pep Guardiola. His outing in the Champions League final defeat against Chelsea in Porto did plenty to explain why.

The 26-year-old has one goal for his club since February but has been a mainstay for Southgate, who chose to reward those performances. Since the last World Cup, Sterling's 12 goals and six assists were second only to Kane, while no England player had more than his 11 from open play.

Even when he is not in top form, Sterling makes life hell for defenders. On a sweltering day at the national stadium that overlooks his childhood home, he did not stop. His 12 duels contested were more than any team-mate and he forced a promising first-half free-kick from which Trippier hit the wall.

As the hour approached, Sterling was still without a goal for England in a major tournament. Then Phillips strode through midfield with poise and power to pick out the forward, who held his nerve to pouch a 1-0 victory.

"I've always said, if I'm playing at Wembley in a major tournament – my back garden – then I'm scoring," the beaming matchwinner told BBC Sport afterwards.

In the wider context of this game, there could not be a more fitting match-winner for a team taking a knee and taking a stand for positive change.

Sterling has been at the forefront of these conversations since calling out unequal media coverage for white and black players in December 2018, the day after he was abused from the stands in a match at Chelsea.

A year earlier, he was attacked outside City's training ground by a man who received prison time for kicking him and hurling racist abuse ahead of a game against Tottenham. Sterling scored twice in a 4-1 win.

He also scored for England while targeted by monkey chants in Montenegro and Bulgaria in 2019. With dignity and eloquence, Sterling has been at his best when faced with the worst of this sport. His roar of righteous joy back on home turf was richly deserved.

Raheem Sterling is delighted to be playing a major part for England after he bookended a difficult time with Manchester City by scoring the winner against Croatia.

England started their Euro 2020 Group D campaign with a 1-0 victory at Wembley, Sterling netting in the 57th minute.

It was the 26-year-old's 19th direct goal involvement (13 goals, six assists) in his last 17 appearances for England, while it was his first strike in a major tournament.

Sterling endured a difficult end to the season at City, and regularly found himself out of Pep Guardiola's first XI, though he did start in the Champions League final.

Yet the former Liverpool man, who has been rumoured to be unhappy with his playing time at City, is thrilled to be in the England camp.

"It feels good. I've always said, if I play at Wembley in a major tournament, then I'm scoring, it's in my back garden, I have to score! It's great to finally do that," he told BBC Sport.

"There's a lot of different reasons why I haven't scored for my club, that's totally irrelevant now. I'm here with England, enjoying my football and I'm just happy to score.

"It's been a long season for me, I couldn't wait to get here, couldn't wait to get started because I knew it would be a positive one.

"It's great to get off with a win, that's the most important thing, now we've got the other games to look forward to and we go again."

Sterling – who has played 23 games for England at Wembley without losing, more than any other player – was selected ahead of Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford, but asked if he felt the need to justify Gareth Southgate's choice, he quipped: "Have I justified my selection? I'm trying!"

The winner was teed up by the excellent Kalvin Phillips, who put in a dominant performance in midfield on his major tournament debut.

Phillips completed 95 per cent of his 20 attempted passes in Croatia's half, completing 31 of 33 overall, and dovetailed brilliantly with Declan Rice.

"It was very enjoyable, really warm for a start, it took a toll on us towards the end of the game," Phillips told BBC Sport.

"Obviously a great result, very happy with my performance but there's two more group games left and I need to perform as well as that, if not better.

"I'm just laid back, that's the kind of person I am, regardless of what's been thrown at me I just try to take it in my path and relax as much as possible. If I didn't have the team or coaching staff around me to make me feel like that I don't think it'd be possible.

"I love playing with Declan, I love playing in the role where I can go forward and I know Declan is behind me backing me up in case I get beat. There's a lot of talk about me and Declan fighting for a position but when you look at it we play really well together."

Southgate added: "Kalvin is a player who is so understated, He's had a fantastic start to his international career, he was immense throughout the game, as they all were."

Marin Cilic cited his experience as the key to sealing a first ATP Tour title in three years against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Stuttgart Open on Sunday. 

The Croatian, who did not drop a set all week, hit seven aces on his way to a 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 win in one hour and 50 minutes. 

At 32, Cilic is the third-oldest Stuttgart champion in the Open Era (since April 1968) behind Roger Federer, 36, and Barry Phillips-Moore, 33.

It brought up his 19th ATP Tour title and he believes the knowledge he has amassed in his career was crucial to overcoming an opponent 12 years his junior. 

"Experience plays a big part, especially on grass," he said in quotes reported on the ATP website. 

"The conditions can be difficult; the court plays quite quickly. I felt this was a good chance for me to give it my all, keep my intensity. 

"Even though some games were up and others down, that was a big part of my victory today.

"It was a very important win. I played two semi-finals and did not win a title since 2018, also on grass at Queen’s. 

"Winning here brings out joy for me, good confidence and a good feeling.

"I felt like I was playing good tennis these last few weeks. Winning here is a great way for me to continue my form and it gives me a good sign for Queen's and Wimbledon. 

"It is a joy to win my first title with my family here for the first time at any tournament."

Auger-Aliassime, who has now lost all eight ATP Tour finals he has contested, had no complaints with the result. 

"Today, I am not facing a final, I am facing Marin Cilic; it is two different things," he said. 

"There have been times when I have not played my best then I felt I was not playing well, but this time around, I felt like it was close. 

"Overall, though, I think he was the better player."

Spain will look to put their fraught preparations behind them when they begin their Euro 2020 campaign against Sweden on Monday.

The past week has been one of real uncertainty for La Roja following Sergio Busquets' positive test for coronavirus.

The senior squad were forced to isolate, with back-up options summoned from holidays to take part in a parallel training bubble in case of further infections, while the Under-21s took to the field for last Monday's final warm-up friendly against Lithuania.

Diego Llorente returned what was later confirmed to be a false positive test and, thankfully for coach Luis Enrique, there were no further cases.

Llorente, who was applauded by team-mates after returning to training, said: "The reception was one of the most special things that has happened to me.

"It's a sign of the unity the whole team has. The team is very united, and that reception was something I didn't expect."

Fostering unity in the side has been of paramount importance to Luis Enrique, especially amid the consternation back in the capital over his decision not to include Sergio Ramos, or indeed any Real Madrid players, in his squad.

The former Barcelona boss has a mixture of experience and uncertainty at this level as he bids to lead Spain to a record fourth European Championship triumph and third in the past five tournaments.

They begin Group E in Seville against Sweden, who have lost the previous two meetings at major championships and kept only one clean sheet in their previous 12 games against Spain.

Janne Anderson's side have lost six of their past eight games at the Euros, their only win in that run coming against France back in 2012. They scored just once at Euro 2016, too – and that was an own goal from Republic of Ireland defender Ciaran Clark.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Spain – Thiago Alcantara

With Busquets missing at least against Sweden, it may well fall on Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara to operate as dictator-in-chief in the Spain midfield.

He completed 51 of 56 passes in the friendly draw with Portugal on June 4, exactly the same number as Busquets, so the shift in role should not prove too disruptive.

Sweden – Alexander Isak

The loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to injury before the tournament means the Sweden goalscoring burden is firmly on the shoulders of Alexander Isak.

The Real Sociedad striker scored 17 times in LaLiga last season but only has two senior international goals since 2019.

KEY OPTA FACTS

- This is the fourth meeting between Spain and Sweden at a major tournament (World Cup and European Championship), after World Cup 1950 (3-1 to Sweden), World Cup 1978 (1-0 to Spain) and Euro 2008 (2-1 to Spain).
- Spain have reached the knockout stages of the European Championship in five of their past six participations, the only exception coming in 2004 when they were eliminated in the group phase.
- La Roja have lost only two of their previous 16 games at the European Championship (W11 D3) with those two defeats coming in their last two matches (against Croatia and Italy, June 2016).
- Spain's last 37 goals in the European Championship finals have all been scored from inside the box. Their last attempt to be scored from distance was Raul's strike against Slovenia in the group stages of the 2000 edition.
- Sweden are taking part in their seventh European Championship. In fact, since their first participation as Euro hosts in 1992 – which remains their best performance (semi-finalists) – they have qualified for every tournament except 1996.

Johanna Konta says she will not take her first WTA singles title in four years for granted after beating Zhang Shuai in Sunday's Nottingham Open final.

The top seed made it third time lucky by avenging her 2017 and 2018 final defeats to Donna Vekic and Ashleigh Barty with a straight-sets win against Zhang.

Konta prevailed 6-2 6-1 for her fourth singles title – and a first on grass – as she became the first British woman to win a WTA singles title on home soil since Sue Barker at the Daihatsu Challenge event in Brighton in 1981.

It is her first trophy since winning the Miami Open in 2017 and leaves the world number 20, who last week split with coach Dimitri Zavialoff, in good shape ahead of Wimbledon in two weeks' time.

"I didn't take this win for granted. I've lost quite a few finals and it's hard to win a tournament so I know how lucky and fortunate I am to be standing here winning trophies," she said in her post-match interview.

"I'm grateful I've been able to put five matches together and I'm proud of myself and my team. I'm enjoying my tennis and doing the best I can.

"I've not done a winning speech in a long time and it's very nice. I love Nottingham and this centre court is a beautiful court to play on."

Konta made light work of seeing off world number 46 Zhang in a little under an hour.

The British number one held her serve throughout the contest, faced just a single break point and finished with 25 winners to four unforced errors.

Konta has now won six of the pair's seven previous meetings, including the past five in a row.

Jude Bellingham became the youngest player to appear in a European Championship match as the 17-year-old England midfielder came off the bench against Croatia.

The Borussia Dortmund player replaced captain Harry Kane in the 82nd minute and earned a fifth senior cap.

He made history in the Euros with his appearance at the age of 17 years and 349 days, Opta said. Bellingham also became England's youngest player in any major tournament.

Previously, the youngest player from any nation to appear in a European Championship finals tournament was Jetro Willems, who featured for the Netherlands against Denmark at Euro 2012 at the age of 18 years and 71 days.

England were leading Croatia on Sunday by the time Bellingham made his appearance, thanks to Raheem Sterling's 57th-minute strike.

Gareth Southgate's team went on to tie up a 1-0 victory in their Euro 2020 Group D opener, meaning England won their opening match at a European Championship for the first time, having previously had five draws and four defeats.

Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest when collapsing on the pitch against Finland and "was gone" before being resuscitated, Denmark's team doctor has said.

Inter midfielder Eriksen was given CPR by medics in the first half of Saturday's Euro 2020 match after falling to the ground with no other player around him.

The fixture was originally suspended, but Eriksen was later confirmed to be "awake" and the game resumed a little under two hours later, with Finland winning 1-0 in Copenhagen.

The Danish Football Union (DBU) provided a further update on Sunday confirming Eriksen remains in a stable condition pending further examinations.

"His condition is stable and he continues to be hospitalised for further examination," the statement read.

"This morning we have spoken to Christian, who has sent his greetings to his team-mates.

"The team and staff of the national team has received crisis assistance and will continue to be there for each other after yesterday's incident.

"We would like to thank everyone for their heartfelt greetings."

Speaking at a news conference called by the DBU on Sunday, team doctor Morten Boesen revealed the full extent of the worrying incident that overshadowed the result itself.

"We got him back after one defib. That's quite fast," Boesen said. "He was gone. We did cardiac resuscitation, it was a cardiac arrest. How close were we [to losing him]? I don't know."

Denmark skipper Simon Kjaer has been widely praised for stopping Eriksen from swallowing his tongue and placing his stricken team-mate in the recovery position.

Medics were on the field within seconds and provided the 29-year-old with life-saving treatment, before escorting him to a nearby hospital where he is being monitored.

"When I got to him, he was on his side, he was breathing, I could feel a pulse, but suddenly that changed and we started to give him CPR," Boesen said.

"The help came really fast from the medical team and the rest of the staff with their co-operation, and we did what we had to do and managed to get Christian back."

Denmark's next Group B match is against Belgium in Copenhagen on Thursday.

Barbora Krejcikova became the first woman for 21 years to win both singles and doubles titles at the same French Open as the Czech completed her staggering fortnight in Paris.

"We will have a little glass of champagne," said Krejcikova, the breakout star of Roland Garros this year, after she and Katerina Siniakova fended off Iga Swiatek and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in Sunday's doubles final.

A 6-4 6-2 victory for the Czech duo gave them a third women's grand slam title as a pair, and a second in Paris after their 2018 triumph.

Krejcikova was already established as a world-class doubles player, but it has been as a singles player that she has emerged in recent times, having only entered the WTA top 100 rankings for the first time last October.

A three-set victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Saturday's singles final gave the world number 33 a first major title without a team-mate at her side.

The doubles triumph means the French Open women's title double has been achieved for the first time since Mary Pierce cleaned up in 2000, when the Frenchwoman beat Conchita Martinez in singles and paired up with Martina Hingis to beat Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

The 25-year-old Krejcikova becomes just the seventh woman to clinch the double, after Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Virginia Ruzici, Martina Navratilova and Pierce.

Pierce wrote on Twitter: "Well done @BKrejcikova! Welcome to a very special club."

Krejcikova said she had not slept well after her singles triumph, and she felt not only tired but complained of "having some pains in my leg" after the doubles.

It has been a strenuous fortnight, and she was determined to finally unwind on Sunday evening.

"I think we going to have a dinner together this evening. We will have a little glass of champagne," she said.

"I already said I don't really drink but I think it's a time to actually celebrate it. I think we going to really enjoy ourselves.

"The rest, I just want to go back home. I just really have to relax. I have to spend some time with my family. After that, just start to work again."

Krejcikova will be a marked player at Wimbledon after her rapid rise in the rankings was capped by the slam success.

"I hope I'm going to have some chances on the grass, but I don't really know because I'm not that experienced on it," she said. "We will see.

"I just know from now on I can really enjoy because I have pretty much achieved everything I really wanted.

"Now I can just improve, that's the only thing I can do, just improving. All the guys and the ladies are doing. That's what I think."

Didier Deschamps has confirmed Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema are fit to play a part in France's Euro 2020 opener against Germany.

Griezmann sustained a calf injury in France's 3-0 win over Bulgaria on Tuesday in their final warm-up match and Benzema left the pitch before half-time with a dead leg.

However, both players took part in full training on Saturday and Deschamps expects to have a fully-fit squad to choose from at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

Asked if Griezmann and Benzema will be available against Germany, Deschamps told TF1: "Yes, it looks like it. Everyone took part in yesterday's training session.

"We have two sessions left before the game and there shouldn't be any problems."

Griezmann's return to fitness is a big boost for France, with the Barcelona forward having scored more goals against Germany (four) with France than against any other team.

He has also been directly involved in more goals (14) than any other European player over the past two major tournaments – 10 goals and four assists in 14 games at Euro 2016 and the World Cup in 2018.

Benzema was not involved in either tournament for Les Blues after being exiled from the national team for nearly six years prior to his surprise recall last month.

The Real Madrid striker made his first appearance for the world champions in five years and 237 days in the recent 3-0 friendly win against Wales, a game in which he missed a penalty.

That was Benzema's third penalty miss in a row for his national side, having also failed to convert against Switzerland and Sweden in 2014, and he only lasted 41 minutes before limping off against Bulgaria.

But Benzema is now expected to start against Germany in Tuesday's huge Group F clash in Bavaria.

"If I resumed training with the squad yesterday it means I've got nothing amiss, no pain," he told TF1.

"Physically I feel good as I was training indoors, so I'm 100 per cent."

France and Germany have met on five previous occasions at major tournaments, winning two matches apiece and drawing the other.

Joe Root insists lessons must be learned by his England side after they suffered an eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the second Test at Edgbaston.

New Zealand clinched just their third series win in England – and first since 1999 – as they eased to a win which takes them to the top of the ICC Test rankings.

The Black Caps, who face India in the ICC Test Championship final next week, did the damage on Saturday, leaving England heading into day four on 122-9 in their second innings.

Trent Boult dismissed Olly Stone with the first delivery on Sunday, and New Zealand tallied up the 38 they required to win within the hour, although Devon Conway and Will Young lost their wickets.

England do not play another Test series until August, when they host India, and Root knows there is much to improve upon.

"More than anything, it's what we can take from it. You can have bad sessions on occasion with the ball but you can't have a session like that with the bat," he said at the post-match presentation.

"That's cost us, but throughout the game New Zealand outplayed us. If we lose quick wickets, how are we going to get through that? Mentally we have to make sure we're resilient and we manage passages of play better.

"It's the lessons from watching the opposition, using the experience in the dressing room, and trying to make sure when you're in the same situation to don't make the same mistakes.

"You can look for excuses but they outplayed us, they played good cricket and we've not matched that. We know we're better than this."

England have white-ball series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan coming up, and Root is hoping a switch to a different format will offer a reset for some of the squad.

"Freeing the mind, look at the game in a different context, it can liberate you. It's the chance to go back into a different format and find rhythm," he added.

"You can never beat wickets and runs."

New Zealand stand-in captain Tom Latham surpassed 4,000 Test runs on Sunday, and fittingly clipped away the winning boundary.

"Great to have that performance, through the four days it was outstanding, with a few changes, everyone came out and did their roles. It was a complete team performance," he said.

"[England have] a fantastic attack, a lot of wickets among them. We played them really well on surfaces we weren't expecting at Lord's and here. I thought we adapted well."

Poland will look to talisman Robert Lewandowski to improve their paltry European Championship goalscoring returns when they face Slovakia in Euro 2020 Group E.

In their 11 previous matches at the finals, Poland have never scored more than one goal, while they also have a habit of making sluggish starts.

A 1-0 win over Northern Ireland at Euro 2016 was their only win in the past nine tournament openers, with four draws and four defeats elsewhere.

Arkadiusz Milik scored the winner in Nice five year ago, but the 27-year-old forward's subsequent wretched luck with knee injuries struck again this week as he was ruled out of Poland's forthcoming campaign.

Head coach Paulo Sousa has elected not to call up a replacement, placing even more emphasis on Bayern Munich superstar Lewandowski.

The 32-year-old broke Gerd Muller's 49-year-old Bundesliga record by scoring 41 goals in just 29 league games this season, with an overall return of 48 in 40 for Bayern in 2020-21.

"It's a big challenge, not just for me, but for the whole team," Lech Poznan centre-back Lubomir Satka, who will be tasked with trying to shackle Lewandowski, told UEFA.com

"I hope the other guys will help me."

Once upon a time, that task would have been one for Martin Skrtel and the former Slovakia and Liverpool defender is cautiously optimistic over his compatriots' hopes in a tough group that also features Spain and Sweden.

"Everything is possible," he told SPORT. "I don't want to guess, but if we were second to the Spanish, it would be great."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Poland – Robert Lewandowski

His exploits this season took him on to a staggering 277 Bundesliga goals, meaning Lewandowski is only behind Muller (365) in the all-time standings. However, eight previous Euro appearances have yielded only two goals. Surely that record is about to improve for the leading centre-forward in world football?

Slovakia – Juraj Kucka

If Slovakia are to upset the odds, expect Parma's Kucka to be involved. In fact, irrespective of the result, the 34-year-old midfielder is likely to be reasonably visible. He was involved in nine of his club's 39 Serie A goals this season, with seven goals and two assists, while his 15 tackles per-game were the highest average of any midfielder in Italy's top flight.

KEY OPTA FACTS

- Slovakia have won just one of their four previous matches at the European Championship, beating Russia 2-1 in their second match back in 2016.
- Slovakia are making their third appearance at a major tournament, after World Cup 2010 and Euro 2016. They were eliminated in the round of 16 in both of those tournaments.
- Poland were the only team never to trail at any point of a game at Euro 2016 in normal or extra time. They were knocked out on penalties by Portugal in the quarter-finals.
- In March 2021, Kacper Kozlowski became the youngest player to play for the Poland at 17 years and 163 days. He is also the second youngest player to play in the Polish Ekstraklasa (15y 215d).
- Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka (101) this season became the third Slovakian to surpass 100 Premier League appearances after Skrtel (242) and Szilard Nemeth (117).