At home, Raheem’s sterling show

A tattoo on Raheem Sterling’s left forearm shows a young boy in a No. 10 shirt with a ball cradled between his right arm and hip looking at the magnificent amphitheatre.

“This is a tattoo of Wembley Stadium. As a young boy I used to walk around Wembley, or be on my bike. Hopefully one day I can be wearing that No.10 in that stadium, be in my hometown, and hopefully be the King of Wembley one day,” Sterling had said in an interview to ITV in 2018.

Sterling grew up in Brent, a borough in north-west London where the stadium is located.

Also read | Sterling strikes as England beat Czechs to top group

Handed the England No. 10 shirt at the 2018 World Cup, Sterling has two goals in three games of the Euro 2020. Goals which helped England top Group D and ensure they play their round-of-16 tie at home. Goals which have kept alive England’s dream of winning that final at Wembley.

Against Czech Republic on Tuesday, Sterling got off to a lively start. He almost opened the scoring seconds into the game as he found space behind the Czech defence but his chip over Tomas Vaclik struck the post. That was from the left. When he scored, it was from a run on the right, the 26-year-old popping up to nod home a Jack Grealish cross.

With Harry Kane yet to emerge from his shadow, Sterling has been England’s most potent goal threat. “I’m so pleased for Raheem to get the goal. He’s a good player and his goalscoring record suggests we should have faith in him,” said England manager Gareth Southgate after the win against Croatia.

Sterling has often been criticised for his lack of patience in front of the goal but Southgate stuck with him, gave him freedom to roam in the front third, and has been rewarded. Including Tuesday’s goal, the Manchester City winger has now directly contributed to 20 goals in his last 19 games for England of which he has scored 14 and provided six assists. He is also the first England player to score two goals at Euro finals since Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard in 2004.

Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand feels that Sterling has developed into a player who isn’t bogged down by criticism.

Also read | Croatia advances to Round of 16 with Modrić leading the way

“He doesn’t need any validation of his performances. He’s used to seeing his selection being questioned for club as well as country, even when it is clearly ridiculous to do so and, like a lot of the really top players, he is able to use that negativity as fuel. You can see he has a steeliness about him and, far from feeling any pressure, he will just see this tournament as the perfect stage to show people what he can do,” Ferdinand wrote for BBC.

It has been frustrating few months for Sterling, who didn’t start for Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals and the semi-finals before being given in an opportunity in the final. Lack of game time since March meant he couldn’t make much an impression against Chelsea.

“If you’re not playing, you’re not happy. That’s been me since a kid,” Sterling spoke about the disappointment of being benched.

There have been rumours about Sterling being made part of a deal to bring Kane to the Etihad but he will hope that his performances in the Euro will convince the City to keep him on the roster.

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