Origins: Rio Ngumoha

My first memory of football was watching my brother playing for the local team that he played for. My brother used to play for a team called Barking FC.

I remember I played in this game for my local team and I got an assist but I started crying because I was playing with the age group above and I was scared, so that was my first proper memory.

I played for a couple – Flanders was one team, Elite Pro was another and East Soccer Base (ESB). After my brother finished football, he set up ESB in East London. That’s the main team that brought me up. My brother made sure that I always worked hard. He always pushed me which is good and what I needed and he got me here today.

I enjoyed it. When I started get more mature, I started playing with the older boys and I wasn’t crying anymore! That was very good. I made a lot of friends.

I was watching Liverpool when I was younger and all the England teams. I remember my first World Cup was 2014 in Brazil. Watching that with my friends and family, that’s how I fell in love with the game.

One player that I looked up to was Raheem Sterling. I trained with him when I used to be at Chelsea in the academy and he gave me a couple of bits of advice. I learned a lot from him.

I left Chelsea when I was 15 and I moved up to Liverpool. The main thing was the accent – it was a bit hard at the start but I soon got used to it!

I was with the under-18s for the first couple of months, just enjoying my football, then moved to the under-21s. In the summer the season before last, I went to pre-season and that’s where everything started.

My first-ever England age group was under-15s. It was a little training camp in October and the first time I played was February. That was my first taste of international football.

It’s been enjoyable, playing for the Young Lions. It’s the best players from your age group. When we were younger, most of them were at Chelsea and Manchester City. We all knew each other. We had very good experiences.

My senior debut [against New Zealand] was crazy. I remember in the morning, we had the meeting and they said I was going to play in the second half. I wasn’t even nervous – I was excited because at the end of the day, nobody expected much from me so I just thought, ‘I can just put on a show for everyone’ and thankfully, I did that. It’s a day I’ll never forget.

I remember Jude telling me that everyone,’ enjoyed playing with you’ and handed me the cap and he asked me to do a speech but I didn’t know what to say – I was speechless at that point!

I definitely learned a lot from the way the players act and how they treat the staff. Little things like that are really big and really important because manners don’t cost anything. Even on the pitch, I learned a lot.

In the summer, I was looking back at everything thinking, ‘wow, this year I’ve achieved this, so next year could be even better’.

I’ve got to keep working hard here and at my club. I enjoy every day as it comes. I can’t ask for much more.