Raheem Sterling Dedicates Goal To Friend Steffie Gegg: “Love You Forever”

Jamaican-born footballer Raheem Sterling scored in England’s 4-0 rout of Hungary today in their World Cup qualifier, and simultaneously paid a heartwarming tribute to his friend, Steffie Gregg, who died, aged 26, a few days ago.

Stephanie ‘Steffie’ Gregg, a popular Jamaican socialite, is the daughter of former race car driver Gary Gregg. She is also the sister of racer car driver Kyle ‘Speedy’ Gregg, and niece of dancehall producer Rvssian.

Playing in the Puskas Arena in Hungary, the talented winger put the Three Lions ahead in Hungary ten minutes after the break and sprinted towards the corner flag to celebrate. He took off his shirt to reveal a message emblazoned in white on his blue undershirt which read: “Love you forever Steffie Gregg.”

She reportedly had underlying health issues and suffered from an autoimmune disorder, and developed complications after contracting COVID-19.

Gregg was airlifted to Miami this week but died on Tuesday.

However, in an ugly turn that stood in stark contrast to his heartfelt gesture, the Man City star Sterling was pelted with cups, bottles, and other objects by the Hungarian crowd as he celebrated. He was also racially abused.

Sterling posted photos of his celebration on his Instagram and Twitter pages, with the caption: “This one was for you SVG ❤️🙏🏾🕊”

This one was for you SVG ❤️🙏🏾🕊 pic.twitter.com/q29p3jEtRz

— Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) September 2, 2021

On Instagram, Dancehall star Beenie Man posted handclaps to celebrate the gesture, while Rvssian thanked Sterling for memorializing his niece, writing: Love you forever Steffie !!! ❤️❤️❤️ @svg876_ thank you bro @sterling7 real !.

Reggae star Dre Island wrote: Love and only love 100% #SVG 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 🕊

Social media personality Prince Pine, selector Creep Chromatic and dancer Desha Ravers were some of the other persons who applauded Sterling’s golden gesture. The picture had generated 284,000 likes at the time this story was published.