The England star has also vouched for the Headspace app
England ace Raheem Sterling has revealed how he gets mentally ready for high-pressure football games, including apps to help with mental health – and watching funny YouTube videos.
The Chelsea striker credits YouTube for lightening the mood during high-pressured situations and said: “One of my favourite apps to get ready for a game is YouTube. I like to escape a little in humour and distract myself from any nerves.
“When it’s closer to the games I like to use my Headspace app and focus on my breathing and try to be present for the game.”
The winger, who has netted 19 goals in 79 appearances for England, also revealed a strange quirk he uses to try and keep a scoring streak going.
He said: “If I score, I’ll just try to wear the same trainers with my tracksuit to the next game – and if I don’t score it’s going back in the closet.
“When it comes to really big games, I try to get myself in the mindset of how I’m going to affect the game, and the more I don’t think about the game and go about my everyday life the better, to try to block the noise out.”
Sterling, brand ambassador for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4, also discussed the inspirations that took him from the playing fields of north London – to playing at Wembley itself.
He said: “There was quite a few inspirational people to me – my mum, anyone I shared a moment with being around a football field, they played a part in that as well.
“What’s made me the person I am today is all the setbacks I’ve had, all the ‘can’ts’ – you can’t do this, you can’t do that, you’re not good enough – those sort of things always drive me.
“The way I want to inspire the next generation is to give as much back as I can, that includes time, things I know a lot of communities need, and give back in that sense.
“Not just throwing money out there, but valuable time, and showing young people if you put your time and energy in, what you can achieve.”
Annika Bizon, from Samsung, said: “It’s been amazing to hear from Raheem about how he uses his tech to prepare himself mentally for huge matches, but also how his Fold4 really helps him to multi-task and get the most out of his downtime too.
"As an England footballing hero, Raheem is a true symbol of how we can use technology to bring people together and inspire the next generation of talent.”
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