Jordan Henderson was spotted wearing Raheem Sterling's number 10 shorts after England reached the World Cup quarter-finals with a emphatic 3-0 win over Senegal.
In the build-up to Sunday's round of 16 clash at the Al Bayt Stadium, it was confirmed by The English FA that Sterling would not be available for the game against Group A runners up Senegal due to personal reasons.
Gareth Southgate went on to confirm that Sterling's absence in a pre-match press conference was down to a 'family matter.'
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Hours later and after goals from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka would seal England's place in the next stage of this winter's World Cup, it emerged that Sterling was the victim of a robbery at his London home.
Sterling has since returned to the UK to check on the well-being of his family following a robbery, according to the Daily Telegraph. A further report from the BBC claimed the intruders were armed.
In his post-match interview, Southgate commented on the Chelsea winger's current situation.
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“I had a long time with him this morning working out how best to deal with everything," he said. "He’s going to go home tonight, he’s probably on his way home.
“The priority is his family and we’ve got to be able to give him he space to sort things out there, then we will see if he’s able to come back.”
England players proceeded to show their support to Sterling after the match. Former Liverpool teammate Jordan Henderson was spotted wearing Sterling's number 10 shorts as he interacted with fans inside the stadium.
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He also send a message to the 27-year-old in his post-match interview.
“I hope everything is okay with Raheem’s family at home and I hope he goes back and can sort everything out," Henderson said.
"I’m not sure but hopefully he can then come back but I suppose he’ll have to assess that when he gets there. All of our thoughts and support is with him”.
Harry Maguire said all the squad were behind him in his post-match chat with talkSPORT.
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“It’s really disappointing to hear that Raheem has had to go home and sort things out this morning, so we haven’t had time to speak to him this morning," he said. "Our full focus was on the game.
“To lose a key player tonight, the game could have gone different and we might have needed Raheem tonight. To lose him over something that’s out of our hands is disappointing. We are all here for him."
Maguire added: “I think we’ll find out more in the next few hours, but we are all here for him and his family and it’s extremely disappointing to hear that when we are out here playing for our country and giving absolutely everything for our country and there are people back home targeting us.”
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Senegal centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who plays for Chelsea alongside Sterling, said he wasn't aware of his club teammates situation ahead of kick-off.
“I really didn’t know," he said. "I’m really surprised. I hope his family is good. Now I will call him and see what happened to him. But I hope he will be good and his family is good.”
Last month, Sterling said the Three Lions are "lucky" to have Jordan Henderson in the national team for this winter's World Cup.
Speaking on GQ Sports’ YouTube channel, he said Henderson is a player who delivers in the biggest moments.
“A gem. Another leader. He works, works, works so whenever you see someone that gets their praise and some of the stuff he achieves, he deserves every single thing because when they say hard-work, he’s the definition of that for me," Sterling said.
“He always trains like he plays, then delivers in big moments. He leads Liverpool by example, another player I think that we’re lucky to have in the national team.”
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, England, Senegal
