STERLING: WE’RE GOING TO MAKE FANS SO PROUD

Raheem insists Southgate’s young guns are full of belief and fired up to do something very special

RAHEEM STERLING says England are determined to do a whole nation proud.

He can sense the growing belief from back home and insists England are ready to seize their moment at this World Cup. Manchester City forward Sterling helped England end their 12-year wait to win a knockout game in a major tournament and their penalties hoodoo by beating Colombia.

It is now opening up for England with a quarter-final against Sweden on Saturday and there is a glorious chance to reach the final for the first time since 1966. Sterling said: “Now we have a great chance to go again and do the country proud. It’s hard not to get carried away. But we haven’t won anything yet.

“We’re in the quarter-finals and we’ve won on penalties, which is something we haven’t managed to do in the past.

“It’s about having that belief. We know we’ve still got a long way to go.

“From moment one we had the belief to keep things simple, and now we have a great chance on Saturday.

“In football it can get boring saying this, but we have to take it step by step. We’re a great group. We’ll recover and get on to the game this weekend.”

Sterling had volunteered to take a penalty if it went to a shoot-out but he was substituted late on so had to watch the drama unfold.

But he insists that, despite millions of England fans hiding behind their sofas at home,