Raheem Sterling one of England’s key players has reportedly left the squad after an armed break-in at his family’s house. England FC‘ boss Gareth Southgate revealed the news during an interview after their 3-0 last-16 win against Senegal on December 4th.
He told the interviewer, “Sometimes football isn’t the most important thing and family should come first.”
Apparently, the dreaded incident took place on Saturday night. Raheem, who has three young kids, lives inside that house, and he was visibly shocked to find out the news.
Raheem returned back to England on Saturday.A spokesperson for the Chelsea forward said, “as soon as he was alerted he wanted to get home, concerned for the well-being of his children.”
As for his future with the three lions in the later stages of the World Cup, Southgate said,
“We want to give him that space and we will see over the next few days how that develops.”
Likewise, one of Raheem’s teammates, Declan Rice also said in the post-match conference that he saw Raheem in the morning during breakfast, however, the manager later told him and his teammates about the situation at Sterling’s home and they all sent him a message.
Raheem with his kids and partner.This isn’t the first time a house break-in has happened in Raheem’s residence as back in November 2018, three burglars attempted to force their way inside his Chesire’s home.
Well, the incident comes at the worst possible time for the one-time world champions as they are about to go against the defending champions France in the quarter-finals. Having lost such an experienced and skillful player will definitely hurt their odds against the Les Blues.
Raheem is the second player to exit the squad after Arsenal defender Ben White also left due to ‘personal reason.’
We would all like to wish for the safety of Raheem Sterling’s family back home and hope that he would be able to rejoin his squad in Qatar before their quarter-final match.
