Robert Carter
KNUTSFORD, England — That day, Raheem Sterling looked up, and tuned in. Ordinarily when he is on the field, he loses himself so completely in the game that the noise of the crowd becomes an indistinct murmur, each voice lost in the hum of tens of thousands.
But as Sterling approached the touchline to collect the ball for a corner kick in Manchester City’s Premier League game at Chelsea on Dec. 8, something forced him to switch his focus.
He remembers making eye contact with a handful of fans in the front row of the Matthew Harding Stand at Stamford Bridge.