Sterling missed two deadlines
RAHEEM Sterling apologised to his England team-mates last week for being the only player to arrive late for the World Cup squad’s meet, having booked the wrong flights from a holiday in Jamaica and missing a deadline that had already been extended to accommodate him.
Gareth Southgate revealed that he had been forced to have a ‘‘discussion’’ with the Manchester City winger about his organisation and had accepted that it was down to a ‘‘mix-up’’ over flights. Sterling had believed that he was coming back direct from Jamaica in time to be at St George’s Park on the evening of Tuesday May 22, an agreed later meet than many of the squad, only to realise when he arrived at the airport that there was a stopover in Miami.
It has been the 23-year-old’s tattoo of an assault rifle on his right leg that has divided opinion over the past week, with the player saying that it was a tribute to his murdered father and receiving the backing of the Football Association. But in a press briefing yesterday, before England’s friendly against Nigeria today, Southgate suggested that Sterling’s lateness had been a bigger issue.
Southgate would not disclose the disciplinary measures taken but did say that he and Sterling ‘‘went for a walk’’ to discuss the issue which had been dealt with ‘‘internally’’. Sterling had contacted Southgate from Miami as soon as he realised that the flight from Jamaica, where he was born, was not direct.
Southgate said: ‘‘He was given off until the Tuesday night and he arrived on the Wednesday morning. So, he was late. That was dealt with. And we discussed it as a group and moved on. There was a mix-up on flights and a connection. We haven’t hid anything on that. I think we said he was due to meet on Tuesday night but missed that. It’s dealt with and we moved on.
‘‘I had a discussion with the player, we came to an agreement. And then, in fairness to him, he wanted to apologise to the group, explained his commitment to the team, and it’s done. Everybody moved on.
‘‘I have to say, he’s trained brilliantly all week. He’s so keen for this tournament to be a success for him and the team. There was nothing intentional in his lateness. But, of course, I’d given him a bit of extra time so he understood why it was more important to get back than he was able to.’’
Sterling had first been to Ibiza on holiday, returned to the United Kingdom for a court hearing related to his child and then flew to Jamaica. Having failed to make it back by the Tuesday evening deadline last week, he did participate in training the following day although with a lighter workload. It is understood that his failure to arrive on time went down badly with GETTY IMAGES AP Southgate and was first reported six days ago in The Sun On Sunday. But it was eclipsed this week when the first photographs of his M16 tattoo were taken during a training session on Monday, sparking a debate over whether the player was being unfairly targeted by the media.
In reality, at the heart of the England camp, the tattoo issue had been causing far fewer concerns than Sterling’s failure to be at St George’s Park at the appointed time. On Tuesday last week, the FA had released a statement saying that Sterling would not be arriving until that evening because of a ‘‘private matter’’. That was before Southgate was told by the player that his flight from Jamaica would not get him back until Wednesday.
Southgate said that he felt it was a mistake from Sterling which, although frustrating, had not been ‘‘intentional’’.
‘‘I have a sense if someone doesn’t want to be here and wants to be late, that’s different. But I know how he was about it, so it was clear to me, his commitment and his focus,’’ he said. ‘‘Managers want an easy life, really. They don’t want to have conversations and we know the world we live in. Nothing stays private. So, if those situations happen, they are going to be out there.
‘‘There is a requirement to answer questions on them, and the possibility they become a bigger issue than they might. That’s part of the long discussion we had when we went for a walk.’’
Sterling is available for selection for the Nigeria friendly at Wembley which will be the first clue as to which goalkeeper Southgate now considers his first choice. Defenders Harry Maguire and Danny Rose are both expected to sit out the game as they recover from injuries. Jesse Lingard, who will play against Nigeria, said that he believed England could win the World Cup. The Manchester United man said that there was ‘‘quality in the team – if we combine those together in the perfect way then we can go far’’. Telegraph, London