Life in tournaments moves pretty fast. Watching Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane shredding Ukraine and Denmark in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Euros, it was hard to imagine that when the tournament began less than a month ago, there were doubts over Sterling’s place in the team and grumbles over Kane’s form. If England goes on to beat Italy in Sunday’s final, there’s every chance Kane could lift the Golden Boot and Sterling the Golden Ball.
The concerns over Sterling are perhaps the more complicated ones, if only because of the tendency of modern discourse to bifurcate into tedious culture wars.