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Lee Hendrie was bubbling over with praise after witnessing Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling’s wonderful World Cup exhibition for England against Iran.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Hendrie had nothing but compliments to chuck in the direction of the roaring Three Lions attacker.
Sterling sparkled for Gareth Southgate’s side as they swept away Iran on their opening group game in Qatar.
Before the 6-2 drubbing, many debated whether the 27-year-old had done enough at club level this season to earn a start at the tournament.
But as many supporters of Sterling mentioned, he has almost always turned up for his country.
Chelsea’s summer signing did just that earlier today to prove his worth to Southgate and the nation.
He scored England’s third in the maiden minute of the lengthy injury time added on to the first-half.
Harry Kane’s inviting cross was stabbed home by his attacking partner, as the pair linked up again at a major competition.
The scorer then turned provided after the interval.
Sterling skipped past lunging Iranian challenge and passed purposefully into the path of Bukayo Saka.
Saka then bided his time to find an opening before slotting England’s fourth into the net.
Sterling shines for England
Whilst the Arsenal youngster and Jude Bellingham attracted most of the headlines, Hendrie wanted to mention Southgate’s underrated performer.
“Sterling remarkable. Absolutely showed what he is capable of doing. Chelsea haven’t seen it this season as much,” said the former Aston Villa defender.
“I have no doubt in Sterling. He isn’t one I would’ve picked today. I would’ve liked to see (Jack) Grealish today.
“But Sterling turned up today. He was brilliant. He worked the line well, complimented Harry Kane, stepped in when he had to, got into little pockets and caused problems.
“That’s what Raheem Sterling is all about. And he got onto the scoresheet.”
It was the perfect way to silence the doubters who have been sneering over Sterling’s move to Chelsea from Manchester City.
In fairness, they’ve had good reason to be sniffy of his tenure in South West London, but perhaps they can refrain from reacting negatively until after the World Cup.
