Raheem Sterling: 'He was always the best player on the pitch'

Wembley Stadium is just a stone's throw from where footballer Raheem Sterling grew up.

The England forward even has the venue's iconic arch tattooed on his arm.

This weekend, the speedy player will be trying to outrun Italy in Sunday's Euro 2020 final at the ground.

Raheem's former school coach Paul Lawrence's told Radio 1 Newsbeat it'll be a "fairy-tale moment" for the 26-year-old player.

From scoring goals against Croatia, the Czech Republic and Germany to setting up Harry Kane's opener against Ukraine and winning a penalty against Denmark - he's been a key part in England reaching the final.

Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica, but when he was just two years old, his dad was murdered.

In a 2018 interview with The Player's Tribune he says it was an event that shaped his entire life.

Shortly after, his mum travelled to England, leaving Raheem and his sister in Jamaica with their grandmother.

'Thank God I had football'

Raheem said it was difficult without his parents, but he told the magazine he was relieved to have football in his life.

"I remember when it used to rain, all the kids would run outside and play football in the puddles, just splashing around, having the best time."

When he was five, Raheem and his sister moved to London to be with their mum.

"My mum was working as a cleaner at some hotels to make extra money so she could pay for her degree.

"I'll never forget waking up at five in the morning before school and helping her clean the toilets at the hotel in Stonebridge."

Raheem Sterling now has a family of his own

But it wasn't until he was picked out at school, when he was eight years old, by football coach Clive Ellington, who noticed his skills, he started taking football more seriously.

"I was mentoring for an organisation at the time and he was referred to us," Clive told the BBC Daily Euros podcast on 5live.

"My first sight of Raheem was in the school playground, and I thought either the boys he's playing with are really poor or he's really good.

"And it turned out to be the latter."

Another of his school coaches, Paul Lawrence, told Newsbeat Raheem was "a joy to coach".

"Right from his young days, he had a determination about him.

"He always wanted to improve every part of his game.

"He'd always be one of the first ones to turn up to training and be the last one to leave."

Paul says, like Gareth Southgate's decision in Wednesday's semi-final, Sterling was too good a player to take off to the pitch as a sub.

"He was always the best player on the pitch.

"Even if we've been in the game comfortably by four or five goals, I still wouldn't sub him off."

Raheem returning to his first club QPR with Liverpool in 2014.

In the Player's Tribune interview, Raheem says it was his sister who took him to all his training sessions at Queens Park Rangers (QPR) whilst his mum worked.

"Three buses. The 18 to the 182 to the 140. The red double-deckers with the blue wool '80s vibe on the seats. Spent ages on those. We'd leave at 3:15 and get home at 11pm. Every. Single. Day.

"She'd sit upstairs in the little cafe and chill until I was done with training.

"Imagine being 17 years old and doing that for your little brother. And I never once heard her say: 'Nah, I don't wanna take him'."

He says his sister "sacrificed" a lot - saying it was down to her and his mum that he's made it to where he is today.

'He didn't understand what he was about to enter'

In the years since, Clive Ellington says he hasn't always understood why Raheem's been portrayed as "flashy" by some parts of the media.

"When he went to QPR he still wanted to come back to us an play on a Sunday," Clive remembers. "He just didn't understand the enormity he was about to enter."

"This is a young person who cried to me when he went from QPR to Liverpool - saying he had to buy a flashy car," he says.

"I said: 'well you don't have to'."

Off the pitch, Raheem hasn't shied away from big issues. In 2018 he accused some newspapers of fuelling racism in an Instagram post.

He pointed out the common differences in how young black and white players were often portrayed.

"He didn't do it on his own behalf, he did it for a young player to weather the storm," journalist Musa Okwonga told the BBC Daily Euros podcast.

"He said to me he'd picked out more articles than just those two. If it had been about him it could have been lost as self-justification."

For Clive Ellington, he thinks society has to have more respect for footballers.

He points out while the salaries of the likes of Christiano Ronaldo are often applauded, others are accused of being greedy.

"We don't view football as a job," he says.

"It is a job, it's a job to footballers.

"For a club he's abused, for England we're all stood up cheering. Where money and prospects come into it, colour plays a big part."

Honoured by the Queen

In June 2021, Raheem Sterling became an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to racial equality in sport.

"Receiving this honour is a fantastic feeling and a proud moment - not just for myself but for my family and friends," Raheem said at the time..

"I am grateful to have been recognised but my priority is to try to help to educate society and myself. If it doesn't start from within, then there's no way you can help others. I'm learning every day."

Raheem Stirling was heavily criticised after joining Manchester City in 2015.

He's also used his position and wealth to set up a foundation aimed at helping improve the social mobility of disadvantaged young people.

Speaking to the Sunday Times magazine, he said: "If there is a university they want to go to, football equipment they need, other things... I want to be a helping hand."

He has also worked on a number of projects to help young people in Brent, the area of north-west London where he grew up.

Player of the tournament?

Football pundits and commentators have praised Sterling for his performances during Euro 2020.

The Daily Telegraph's football correspondent Matt Law called him "unstoppable".

"Raheem Sterling has not only been England's star of the tournament, but also the player of these European Championships," he wrote.

And Ian Wright's also been pretty vocal about his support of Sterling.

So will Sterling deliver another outstanding performance in Sunday's final? It all kicks off at 8pm.

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