Recently, Manchester City's center back Stones announced in his acceptance of England's pre-match press conference against Greece that he will captain the England national team for the first time in this match. This news not only made the fans to look forward to, but also made Stones himself excited.
Stones said fondly at the launch, "This is everything I dreamed of as a child. To be able to walk out of the players' tunnel as captain of England is an incredibly special moment for me. The fact that my family was able to witness this moment is even more of an immense honor and satisfaction for me."
He further expressed his gratitude to former coach Lee Carsley: "I can't thank Lee (Carsley) enough. He has guided and helped me so much throughout my career and to be able to wear the captain's armband at this moment in time is an incredible moment for me."
Talking about wearing the captain's armband into the game, Stones could not hide his inner excitement: "Wearing the armband into the game is definitely my honor, I will always cherish this moment. I will do my best to lead the team to victory."
During the conference, Stones also compared the coaching styles of current manager Pep Guardiola and former coach Carsley. He said, "Everyone has their own unique style, but I think there are similarities in each manager's style as well. Lee (Casley) and Pep (Guardiola) have a lot of similarities in how they see the game and how they want us to play."
He further explained, "We've seen that in the two games last month and it's clear that we're getting positive results. They did a lot of research on our players and the team to understand how we play at our respective clubs and tried to bring that into the national team to make it as easy as possible for us players to gel together and move in one direction."
