Before Euro 2020 kicked off, not too many England fans had Raheem Sterling in their starting XIs.

With the plethora of attacking talent, Sterling appeared to be behind the likes of Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford in the eyes of many supporters.

Fortunately, Gareth Southgate had other ideas.

Southgate gave Sterling a start in England’s opener against Croatia in which the Manchester City forward scored the only goal of the game.

Despite that, he was still asked whether his goal ‘justified’ his selection after the match.

While he didn’t have the finest of matches against Scotland, Sterling was once again the hero against the Czech Republic as he scored the only goal of the game once again to secure top spot for England in Group D.

And who popped up with the crucial goal in the last-16 clash against Germany with just 15 minutes remaining? Yep, that man again for his third goal of the tournament.

Quiz: Can you name these England one-cap wonders?

However, Sterling so almost went from hero to villain within minutes.

With England 1-0 ahead with less than 10 minutes remaining, Sterling’s misplaced pass went straight to Kai Havertz who fed Thomas Muller.

Muller was immediately through on goal and would surely equalise to force the tie into extra-time.

However, the Bayern Munich man dragged the ball wide - much to the relief of Sterling and the rest of the country.

But how was Sterling feeling as Muller bared down on goal? If we felt nervous as fans, imagine how the player responsible for the chance would feel.

Tabloids don’t usually need a second invitation to pile in on Sterling and if it ended up costing England a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, you can just imagine the headlines.

All of that was probably on Sterling’s mind as footage shows him with his hands on his head as Muller races through following his stray pass.

Then, after Muller missed, Sterling collapses to the floor in relief knowing that wasn’t responsible for allowing Germany the chance to equalise.

Video: Sterling's reaction to Muller's miss

Phew.

Minutes later, Sterling was on the floor in celebration as Harry Kane doubled England’s lead and booked their place in the quarter-finals where they will face Ukraine in Rome.

There’s very little doubt Sterling will be playing that match as he looks to continue his excellent form in the competition.

England sink Germany! England 2-0 Germany Highlights | Euro 2020 (The Football Terrace)