Raheem Sterling will enter the World Cup full of confidence after his best season yet as a professional footballer.Sterling scored 23 goals in all competitions, playing a crucial role in Manchester City’s march to the Premier League title.He will have been one of the first names in Gareth Southgate’s squad that will travel to Russia and, along with Harry Kane, he provides England’s best hope of a successful tournament.Yet the 23-year-old has had to wrestle with being persecuted by British newspapers for some time now, dating back to when he played for Liverpool.It’s been pretty sad to see as Sterling has had to deal with his name repeatedly being knocked.Sterling has frequently been targeted, with irrelevant stories being published about where he shops and eats. He’s even been described as a “footie idiot”.On Monday evening, The Sun wrote a story on a new tattoo that Sterling showed off during England training.
The Manchester City forward took to Instagram to respond to the story.
Gary Lineker tweets
Sterling has always risen above the rubbish that is written about him and it’s a testament to his character that he is able to overlook it.
Gary Lineker reacted to the situation by admitting it is “unique to this country” to attempt to bring down England players ahead of a major tournament.
The Match of the Day host also described the persecution of Sterling as “disgusting”.
“Unique to this country to attempt to destroy our players morale before a major tournament,” Lineker tweeted.
“It’s weird, unpatriotic and sad.
“He’s a terrific footballer with a brilliant work ethic. This persecution is disgusting.”
Lineker is spot on.
It’s pretty sad to see a player targeted as often as Sterling is but England’s official Twitter account had the perfect reaction to The Sun’s story.
Just minutes after it came out, England published a lovely video of Sterling posing with two young England fans at St. George’s Park.
It was an obvious reaction to the newspaper’s story - and it was perfect.
Sterling figures to play a crucial role in England’s World Cup campaign, which gets underway against Tunisia on June 18.
England fans will be hoping that he can carry his club form into the international competition as the Three Lions look to make up for some disappointing appearances in recent tournaments.