A YouTube video showing a young slip of a lad scything through the heart of defences with devastating pace and the balance of a tightrope walker had Liverpool fans tapping at their keyboards in a flurry of excitement.
That player was a 15-year-old Raheem Sterling, just signed by Liverpool’s then-manager Rafa Benitez and showing dribbling ability not unlike the club’s former England great John Barnes.
Fast forward four years, in the oppressive humidity of the Amazonian city of Manaus with the world’s eyes watching, and Sterling showed he belongs in the very best international company.
Click here to visit The National’s dedicated World Cup 2014 landing page
Despite a disappointing 2-1 defeat in England’s World Cup Group D opener against Italy on Saturday, he proved to be a ray of light piercing the thick jungle canopy.
Minutes into the match, Sterling picked up the ball from deep and surged forward before arrowing in an effort which looked destined for the corner before eventually slamming into the side netting.
Playing with a freedom so often absent among England players who seem burdened by the weight of frequent failure, he had Italy’s defenders panicking from the start in a first-half performance of genuine quality.
After Italy took the lead it was Sterling who set the wheels in motion for England’s well-worked equaliser, picking up the ball deep, striding forward and sliding a pass to the left where Wayne Rooney crossed for Daniel Sturridge to swat the ball home.
In those first 45 minutes, the youngster who grew up in north-west London had fully justified coach Roy Hodgson’s decision to include him over more experienced heads.
Throwing Sterling into the fray when question marks had been raised about his discipline following a sending off in a warmup game against Ecuador in Miami meant Hodgson was taking a gamble that could have gone either way.
There were no dissenting voices at fulltime, however, because, while he looked a work in progress rather than a polished diamond, Sterling sparkled with flashes of ingenuity so often lacking in recent generations of England teams.
“Sterling was as bright as we hoped he would be,” said Hodgson, a naturally cautious manager who earned deserved credit for giving him the chance to shine.
The World Cup comes at the culmination of a breakthrough season in the Premier League for Sterling after his early promise at Liverpool appeared to have wilted at the tail end of the last campaign and the start of this one.
Understandably for one so young, his ability to maintain a sustained influence on a game often faded and he found himself out of the starting line-up as Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool side began what turned into an unexpected title challenge.
He returned to the team for a 3-1 away defeat by Hull City in December that could have seen him shunted back down the pecking order but instead proved a catalyst for a resurgence that made him an almost guaranteed starter as Liverpool climbed the table.
Three goals in four games followed the Hull defeat while a double against Arsenal in February made everyone stand up and take notice.
Yet it was the way Sterling grew into the variety of roles he was asked to perform as the pressure of the season’s culmination mounted that forced him into England reckoning.
Now he heads up a group of young attacking players at Hodgson’s disposal who represent a break from the past and England’s traditionally staid and stolid outlook.
Writing in the Daily Mail, former England defender Rio Ferdinand described Sterling as a "breath of fresh air, attacking without fear, taking people on, going for goal, playing like he's enjoying trying to win".
If England are to have any chance of reaching the knockout stages from a group that also includes Costa Rica and Uruguay, the youngster from Wembley is likely to have a defining impact.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UJDA CHAMAN
Produced: Panorama Studios International
Directed: Abhishek Pathak
Cast: Sunny Singh, Maanvi Gagroo, Grusha Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Rating: 3.5 /5 stars
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Brescia v Atalanta (6pm)
Genoa v Torino (9pm)
Fiorentina v Lecce (11.45pm)
Sunday
Juventus v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Inter Milan v SPAL (6pm)
Lazio v Udinese (6pm)
Parma v AC Milan (6pm)
Napoli v Bologna (9pm)
Verona v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Cagliari v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Patrick Chamoiseau
Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 258hp at 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.4L/100km
Price, base: from D215,000 (Dh230,000 as tested)
On sale: now
What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
%3Cp%3E%0DIf%20Catherine%20Richards%20debuts%20for%20Wales%20in%20the%20Six%20Nations%2C%20she%20will%20be%20the%20latest%20to%20have%20made%20it%20from%20the%20UAE%20to%20the%20top%20tier%20of%20the%20international%20game%20in%20the%20oval%20ball%20codes.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESeren%20Gough-Walters%20(Wales%20rugby%20league)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBorn%20in%20Dubai%2C%20raised%20in%20Sharjah%2C%20and%20once%20an%20immigration%20officer%20at%20the%20British%20Embassy%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20she%20debuted%20for%20Wales%20in%20rugby%20league%20in%202021.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESophie%20Shams%20(England%20sevens)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EWith%20an%20Emirati%20father%20and%20English%20mother%2C%20Shams%20excelled%20at%20rugby%20at%20school%20in%20Dubai%2C%20and%20went%20on%20to%20represent%20England%20on%20the%20sevens%20circuit.%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFiona%20Reidy%20(Ireland)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMade%20her%20Test%20rugby%20bow%20for%20Ireland%20against%20England%20in%202015%2C%20having%20played%20for%20four%20years%20in%20the%20capital%20with%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Harlequins%20previously.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
