Danny Murphy has hailed England and Manchester City star Raheem Sterling for being ‘a great example and role model’ to youngsters with his conduct on and off the pitch.
The 24-year-old has received widespread praise over the past week after his hat-trick display in the Three Lions’ 5-0 win over Czech Republic.
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It was a special night for Sterling at Wembley Stadium
Sterling was at his brilliant best in the Euro 2020 qualifying opener, but also received plaudits for his heartfelt tribute to Crystal Palace youth player Damary Dawkins, who tragically passed away after a battle with leukaemia. Damary was aged just 13.
The Three Lions forward was a big supporter of Dawkins and used his social media presence to boost the profile of his fight against blood cancer, issuing pleas to find a stem cell donor.
A donor was eventually found for Damary in the US, though he sadly passed away after relapsing twice following a transplant.
After the win over the Czechs, Sterling also stayed behind at Wembley to visit participants of the Football Beyond Borders charity who had just seen his three-goal performance.
He even signed his match-worn shirt and donated it to their cause.
Sterling has matured immensely as a player since joining Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side, but has also matured off the pitch as well.
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And, after years of negative headlines about his personal life, Murphy wanted to pay a special tribute to the former Liverpool star, saying not enough attention is paid to the good footballers do.
He told talkSPORT host Jim White: “We’ve talked a lot about Raheem Sterling and how much he’s evolved on the pitch – he’s in the top three or four in European football for goals and assists this season.
“But he’s doing a lot off the field which I feel needs highlighting.
“Not just Sterling, but anybody, I don’t think we do it enough. I think we’re always already ready to jump on people when they’ve done things wrong, and Sterling has done some things wrong, but there’s no coincidence that he’s maturing off the field as well as maturing on it.
“Sterling – who has millions of followers on social media – has been desperately trying to create more awareness around the issue of blood cancer and getting blood tests, which I think is fantastic and shows his maturity and about how much he’s caring about other things off the pitch.
“Sterling is not just doing wonderful on the pitch, he’s becoming somebody young boys and girls can look up to, because this is the type of stuff that doesn’t get talked about enough.
LIVE on talkSPORT
There are six live commentaries across the talkSPORT network this week. Find out what they are and where to hear them, below...
- Montenegro vs England (Monday) – talkSPORT
- France vs Iceland (Monday) – talkSPORT 2
- Czech Republic vs Brazil (Tuesday) – talkSPORT 2
- West Brom vs Birmingham (Friday) – talkSPORT 2
- West Ham vs Everton (Saturday) – talkSPORT
- Portsmouth vs Sunderland (Sunday) – talkSPORT 2
“He deserves all the plaudits he gets because he just looks tremendous. He’s playing with confidence, he’s got that strut, but he works his socks off as well. He’s still only 24!
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“I think what is always exciting is when you get any player who goes through the mill and comes out the other side in a positive way.
“Raheem is a great example for young lads, that it doesn’t go smoothly all the time and it’s not going to be perfect and when you get knocked down, when England fans are booing you and the media are hammering him for his tattoos or laughing gas or whatever, he’s had the strength to say: ‘I can come through this’â€.
Listen back to what Danny Murphy had to say about Raheem Sterling IN FULL below…
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