On Thursday, the English team can seal against Montenegro (20:45 hours) their qualification for the European Championship. A triumph in the penultimate qualifying day will allow a complete celebration in Wembley, where the 'pross' will also celebrate the 1,000th match of a story that began there in 1872. However, the atmosphere in the concentration of Gareth Southgate has become extremely thin after a confrontation between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez.

The Manchester City end was ejected late Monday by the coach after the "altercation" with the Liverpool defender. That was the term used by the English Federation (FA), without offering more details of what was experienced in the sports city of St George's. The images taken by the photographers, however, showed scratches on Gomez's right cheek.

"We had an exchange of words, but we have fixed the differences and we have moved on to something else. I am mature enough to admit if I get carried away by emotions," Sterling explained through Instagram, without apologizing.

Hand to neck

There is the circumstance that Gomez and Sterling already had a tough confrontation last Sunday at Anfield, where Liverpool took an important step to consolidate their leadership in the Premier (3-1). The tension was still hot at noon on Monday, when both players showed up for lunch in St George's dining room.

According to Sky Sports, Sterling snapped at Gomez "Do you think you're still the big guy now?" before taking him by the neck. His companions, who at first thought it was a joke, had to separate them immediately.

"One of our strengths is that we were able to separate rivalries from clubs. Unfortunately, Sunday's emotions were still alive," Southgate said in the FA statement. As Sky Sports adds, Jordan Henderson, Liverpool captain who had not yet reached the dining room, had to mediate by telephone with both protagonists to reassure the spirits.

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