England star Jack Grealish has kept his promise to a young fan with cerebral palsy when celebrating his first World Cup goal in this morning’s match against Iran.
The midfielder promised Finlay, a Manchester City fan, he would do a special celebration dance the next time he scored. Grealish keptthe promise, performing the move on world sport’s biggest stage.
The 11-year-old wrote to the City star earlier this year saying he was inspired by Grealish speaking about his younger sister Hollie, who also has cerebral palsy.
Finlay met his hero, and Grealish gave him a signed shirt. The pair also negotiated his next goal celebration.
The youngster originally pitched to Grealish that he should do a hip-hop move called the “worm”, but the pair settled on a dance with wavy arms to prevent any risk of injury.
Grealish, fulfilling that promise, had his arms waving this morning in Doha as England breezed past Iran in a 6-2 victory.
England's Jack Grealish celebrates after scoring his side's sixth goal against Iran. Photo / AP
The 27-year-old has talked on social media about his friendship with Hollie, notably in August this year when she celebrated her 19th birthday. “I love her so much,” Grealish had said in a video.
“We are so close. She was born three months premature and they said she would not be able to talk, walk. And here we are today, and she can do everything.”
After Finlay saw the comments, he wrote to Grealish: “It makes me really happy when I see that you, a famous footballer, knows what it’s like to live with people with cerebral palsy.”
Grealish said the letter made him smile. As Finlay discussed his difficulties of playing football with cerebral palsy, Grealish told the youngster, “There is no need to get frustrated as long as you play with a smile on your face. That is all that matters.”
This morning, the Manchester City star came off the bench with 20 minutes left to play, going on to find England’s sixth and final goal in the 90th.
England sits top of Group B after the first round, with USA and Wales drawing the other fixture 1-1.
