Daniel Sturridge: Why I was caught texting at England match

DANIEL STURRIDGE insists he wasn’t disrespecting England by texting during a match.

By David Woods, Chief Football Writer

SNAPPED: Some England fans weren't impressed when Sturridge was seen on his phone

The Liverpool striker’s commitment to the Three Lions cause was questioned after he was spotted on his phone several times during the recent 2-1 win over Australia in Sunderland.

Sturridge, 26, missed the friendly due to a calf injury.

But he defended himself against the criticism by explaining he was texting about a fund-raising event for his charity ‘The Sturridge Foundation’.

“It was my first annual charity event in Birmingham that night,” said Sturrridge after declaring himself fully fit for England’s opening Euro 2016 game, against Russia on Saturday.

“My family had put the event on and they were texting me the whole night.

“I wasn’t sat on the bench, I was behind the bench. It’s important to watch my team-mates play but if I receive a text message about my charity event of course I’m going to reply to it.

“That’s important to me, just as much as it is here. I’m trying to do something positive for my community in Birmingham as well as in Jamaica.

“Of course I want my team-mates to do well and there was no disrespect at all.

“The manager came to me and said he had no problem with it because I was sat behind the bench, not on the bench with the team.”

Sturridge also revealed how he always picks the brains of goalkeepers to work out the best way to beat them.

He scored a wonder goal with the outside of his left foot in Liverpool’s 3-1 Europa Cup final defeat to Seville last month.

And he admits Starsport columnist Paul Merson was one of his inspirations for the technique, adding: “In training I try to use the outside of my foot quite a lot.

“I speak to the goalkeepers a lot to try to find out things they don’t like.

“That style of shot gives them problems. It’s kind of with no back-lift so it’s difficult to do it with power.

“I’ve played with players I’ve learnt that from – Didi Hamann was very big with the outside of his foot, there was Deco was who was very good with the outside of his foot, Paul Merson was top drawer with the outside of his foot.”