Callum Wilson became the first Newcastle United player to score for England since 2007 with his penalty in last night's 4-0 win over Malta.
Wilson came on as a substitute and won the penalty himself before duly stepping up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way. It was the first time a Toon star had netted in an England shirt since 2007 when Michael Owen did so against Russia.
Speaking after his strike during the Euro 2024 qualifier, Wilson said: "It has been a wait. It's always an honour to play for your country and then to score it tops it all off really.
READ MORE - Eddie Howe looks ahead to United States tour
"It makes all of the hard work that you've put in to get yourself here worthwhile. Probably the only downside is that I didn't score more. I had a couple of chances today. But it was a great team performance.
"We were very clinical and ruthless in the first half and it kind of put the game to bed and then it gives players like myself an opportunity to get on the pitch."
For Wilson the strike was his second England goal after he scored on his debut in a 3-0 win over the USA in 2018. Reflecting on the goal, the win and getting minutes in his legs, he said: "We've not played as a team in a while and the Premier League ended about two-and-a-half weeks ago and we blew away the cobwebs during the week and put in a great performance against Malta.
"Any time you have away from the football field you're going to have a bit of rust when you come back to it but we managed to keep in shape and come back. The intensity of training is always high and the standard is really high."
The goal was hotly disputed with even England pundit Andros Townsend feeling it should not have been awarded. But Wilson said: "I managed to get in the position and I see Phil Foden in the box and when it was blocked I was one of the first people to call for it.
"It was about a minute after the referee blew the whistle and we weren't sure what was going on as we didn't know if we had VAR tonight. I was happy to step up and take it and put it away."
