Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Raheem Sterling has left England’s FIFA World Cup squad to return home to attend to a “family matter”.
The Three Lions coach discussed the forward’s absence after a 3-0 win over Senegal that took his team through to the Qatar 2022 quarter-finals.
“He is going home,” Southgate said . “Clearly the priority is to be with his family, we want to support that and we’re going to leave him to have as much time as he needs.”
Asked whether Sterling might return to the squad, the England coach added: “I really don’t know at the moment. It’s a situation that he needs time to deal with. Sometimes football isn’t the most important thing and family should come first.”
Bengali