'I totally understood that'published at 19:04 British Summer Time 29 March 2022
England v Ivory Coast (19:45 BST)
Gareth Southgate says he understands Wilfried Zaha's decision to play for Ivory Coast.
The Crystal Palace striker won two caps for England - making his debut in November 2012 - before switching to the country of his birth in 2016.
Both England appearances came in friendlies.
"He's a talent. He's a good player playing at a high level every week.
"He felt the Ivory Coast was the route to go and I totally understood that. It's hard to say what his role might have been with us.
"Raheem [Sterling] has been a key part of our team for a long period, Jesse Lingard had done a fabulous job and, at the start, we had Adam Lallana, who was our player of the year for the first 18 months or so. "