England’s Grealish keeps promise to young fan
Midfielder makes surprise visit to meet Finlay
Jack Grealish kept his promise to a young fan who has cerebral palsy with his celebration after scoring his first World Cup goal for England against Iran yesterday.
Grealish tapped home the final goal from close range in a 6-2 win and marked the moment with a broad smile and stretched his arms out to the side, rolling them in waves.
The Manchester City midfielder was keeping a pledge he made to 11-year-old Finlay.
Finlay met his favourite player after writing a letter to Grealish, whose sister Holly also has cerebral palsy.
“I wish there were more people in the world just like you who treat people with disabilities the same as anyone else,” Finlay had written.
Grealish, 27, followed up with a letter of his own and also made a surprise visit to meet Finlay at a football session run by City’s charity programme.
It was there that he pledged to dedicate his next goal to the boy with the arm gesture Grealish recreated in Qatar.
“First of all I’ve got to try and score, then I’ll do it for you, but I’ve only scored once this season,” Grealish said in a video released by the Premier League.
“I’ll do it for you, I promise, next time I score.”