Former Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton striker Peter Crouch has picked his England XI for the opening game against Croatia. Peter Crouch picked the England XI in a chat with Paddy Power as he revealed that Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount would be the first name on his team.
Mount has had a stellar season after he led Chelsea to the Champions League title in Porto last week Saturday. The young midfielder provided the assist for the only goal of the game scored by Kai Havertz as Chelsea beat Premier League rivals Manchester City 1-0 to win their second Champions League title.
England face Croatia in their opening game of the 2020 European Championship scheduled to start on Friday. The game between the Three Lions and the 2018 FIFA World Cup finalists is on June 13 and Peter Crouch expects Mount to start for England.
He picked Mount alongside Manchester City player Phil Foden and Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford as the three players behind lone striker and team captain Harry Kane.
Kane is expected to be a key player for the Three Lions after an excellent campaign that saw him win both the Best Playmaker Award and the Golden Boot Award in the Premier League.
In midfield, Peter Crouch praised teenager Jude Bellingham on the quality shown by him for Borussia Dortmund during the just concluded campaign but opted for experience in the form of Declan Rice of West Ham United and Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson.
In defence, he went for Trent Alexander-Arnold as his right-back but the Liverpool player won’t be at the tournament after picking up a thigh injury in the friendly win over Austria earlier this week. He went for the centre back duo of John Stones and Harry Maguire at the heart of his defence, while Manchester United defender Luke Shaw got the nod at left-back ahead of Bukayo Saka and Ben Chilwell.