London: Fresh from the best season of his career, Raheem Sterling has been handed the responsibility and role he craved by England manager Gareth Southgate to deliver on his abundant potential at the World Cup. Sterling scored 23 goals in all competitions as Manchester City romped to the Premier League title in record-breaking fashion and lifted the League Cup. Yet in keeping with his career so far, there was still a feeling that more is to come if his finishing can match the quality of his skill and movement.
“The moment he is going to be able to increase (the number) of goals he will become one of the best players in the world because he has everything,” said City boss Pep Guardiola. “He is a fighter, he is dynamic, he’s so good, but he has to improve that.” To prove the point, Sterling hasn’t scored in his last 20 games for England, stretching back to 2015. Sterling has also had to cope with consistent negative publicity from some sections of the English press, often for issues far removed from football. Treated as a scapegoat during a series of poor England performances before a humiliating exit to Iceland in the last 16 of Euro 2016, Sterling dubbed himself, “The Hated One” on Instagram during the tournament.
He most recently hit the headlines last week for a tattoo of an M16 assault rifle on his leg. Sterling’s route to the top hasn’t been easy. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he said the gun tattoo is a tribute to his dad who was murdered there when he was just two. Sterling moved to North London at the age of five with his mother, and his abundant talent on the football field soon became recognised as he was snapped up by Queen’s Park Rangers and then Liverpool as a 15-year-old. — AFP
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