England’s No 10 Raheem Sterling ready to dominate at the World Cup in his ‘dream’ number
Sterling has always wanted to wear No 10 shirt - and even has (another) tattoo on his arm to symbolise it
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OH NO, Raheem . . . not another tattoo.
Even England’s new No 10, who has long had his favourite number inked into some more elaborate artwork on his arm, could see the funny side.
He has had his eye on that shirt number ever since he was a little kid growing up on the Stonebridge Park council estate overlooking Wembley stadium.
It is Sterling’s now, certainly for this World Cup, after England lodged their shirt numbers with Fifa on Monday.
The Manchester City flier said: “It’s from my days at QPR, I know I shouldn’t mention it, but I’ve got a tattoo of it on my arm.
“It’s something from my childhood. My two favourite numbers are seven and ten.
“From playing at QPR in the midfield area, and stuff like that, I feel much happier wearing that shirt.
“To be doing that at a World Cup for my country gives me huge joy and that feeling I can do well.
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“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do . . . wear the No 10 for England.”
Sterling will do that in the Group G opener in Russia, when England take on Tunisia inside the Volgograd Arena on Monday June 18.
And settling into his role as England’s playmaker over the past few games, he has been thinking carefully about their approach in Russia.
Sterling has taken on more responsibility for club and country this season, making things happen whenever he is on the ball.
Plus, of course, there is the end product — 23 goals in the Premier League and Champions League.
Sterling, a joy to watch at the minute, added: “We need to control games and be a bit more arrogant on the ball.
“I’m sorry to say it, but being more arrogant and more streetwise is important — especially as we are coming up against great teams with a streetwise mentality.
“They bring their game into it, but you do what you have to do to win a game. It is as simple as that, being streetwise and clever.
“I watched the Champions League final and saw the way Real Madrid controlled the game after Liverpool went 3-1 down.
“They have that winning mentality in big games, not doing anything silly. They see the game out.
“Once we get that, I think we’ll be a really good team.”
City and England team-mate Fabian Delph believes Sterling can really shine in Russia.
Delph said: “It’s scary to think what his potential could be.
“I think this World Cup is a massive stage for him to showcase what he can do.
“He’s one of the most dedicated footballers I’ve come across. His work ethic is fantastic, his desire to improve is there
and he’s still 23.”
England are adapting at the highest level as they prepare for VAR to be used in a World Cup for the first time. Sterling bristled when he quizzed about his yellow card for diving against Nigeria on Saturday.
He insists he will not change his approach. But then added: “The boss has mentioned VAR and the fact the referee can send you off at half-time if the decision has gone wrong. So we have to keep an eye on it.”
Confidence is growing, with these players eager to show the world what they can do.
Sterling, part of England’s doomed 2014 World Cup campaign in Brazil, does not want to make up the numbers again in Russia.
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He said: “That’s the one thing I don’t like hearing, when someone says ‘we’ll see what happens’.
“Forget all of that. I’m not going there to spend four, five, six weeks of my life to say ‘let’s see what happens and hopefully last 16.’
“A quarter-final won’t be good enough at all because we want to win it.
“Of course you can take positives out of everything, but I won’t be entirely happy if I don’t win it, no.”
If England do go on to lift the trophy, then it is only a matter of time before Sterling is rolling up his shirt sleeve again to get an inking of the World Cup.
There would be no complaints about that.
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