Sterling 'beat himself up over' burglary that saw him return home from World Cup

Raheem Sterling has opened up on the robbery that saw him return home from the World Cup in Qatar last year.

The Chelsea star was part of Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad to travel to Qatar, with the Three Lions falling short of their goal and suffering last-eight heartbreak at the hands of France.

But as reported by MailOnline back in December, Sterling in fact returned home before the rest of his team-mates, after a break-in at his new home in Surrey resulted in thieves stealing £300,000-worth of watches.

As a result, he missed England's win over Senegal in the last-16, rushing home to be with his family, who were not at home at the time of the incident, and he revealed that he had been in the process of installing security at his property.

'I beat myself up that I didn't keep my family secure,' the former Manchester City star told The Sun.

'It's one thing I said I would always do, so it wasn't a nice feeling.'

'I couldn't live with myself if anything had come to pass from it,' he added.

'It was something I meant to do before going to the World Cup and I didn't so I was beating myself up about it.

'It's the most scary thing to know with the age of the people living in my house. It's not a nice feeling.'

Although two men were arrested by the police, no charges were ultimately brought against them.

Detectives investigated the raid - which Sterling's England team-mates were informed of in a team meeting just hours before kick-off against Senegal.

It was the second time the star has been targeted, with thieves also attempting to burgle his home in Cheshire four years ago during his time at Man City.

A 2018 burglary on Sterling's house in Cheshire when he was playing for the reigning Premier League champions prompted him to buy a £15,000 Rottweiler guard dog called Okan and enlist a 24/7 security team.