The Manchester City star lifted up his shirt to reveal a commemorative shirt for the schoolboy after his second goal
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RAHEEM STERLING paid tribute to tragic Crystal Palace youngster Damary Dawkins by dedicating his second goal against Czech Republic to the late schoolboy.
The 13-year-old was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2014 and passed away on Sunday despite undergoing a stem cell transplant in the new year.
Sterling had made a huge effort on social media to appeal for stem cell donors to help and paid a touching tribute to Dawkins after he put England 3-0 up at Wembley.
The Manchester City star lifted up his shirt to reveal a commemorative shirt for the schoolboy with the words: "May your soul rest in peace."
The England winger delivered a man-of-the-match performance in the Three Lions' opening Euro 2020 qualifying match with an outstanding hat-trick, and dedicated it to Dawkins' family during a torrid week for them.
Speaking after the match, Sterling said: "He was a kid I was trying to help.
"We thought we found a donor and unfortunately it didn't match and he sadly passed away.
"So I thought I had to do something for the family, give them something to smile about."
The 24-year-old opened the scoring after a driven cross from Jadon Sancho before winning the penalty for Harry Kane to double England's lead.
I thought I had to do something to give his family something to smile about
Raheem Sterling
Sterling continued his electric form after the break to bag his hat-trick- his first at international level - in a resounding 5-0 win for Gareth Southgate's men.
They then succeeded after an appeal from the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT), Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson and Sterling.
But after a successful transplant, Dawkins, who was a member of Palace's elite development squad, r relapsed two more times before passing away in March 2019.
