MARCUS RASHFORD DEDICATED his brace in Englandโs World Cup victory over Wales to a friend who recently died.
Rashford hit a superb free-kick and ended a mazy run by finishing through goalkeeper Danny Wardโs legs after Phil Foden had doubled Englandโs lead in what proved to be a 3-0 stroll against their British rivals in Al Rayyan.
The 25-year-old Manchester United forward pointed to the sky after finding the net and revealed afterwards that he was paying tribute to his late friend.
He said: โUnfortunately I lost one of my friends a couple of days ago.
โHeโs had quite a long battle with cancer, so Iโm pleased I managed to score for him.
โHeโs always been a big supporter of mine. He was just a great person and Iโm pleased he came into my life, really. That was that.โ
England are through to the last 16 where they will face Senegal, and Rashford believes Gareth Southgateโs squad is strong enough to mount a serious challenge in the knockout stages.
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โ RTร Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 29, 2022
A stupendous Marcus Rashford free kick gives England the lead.
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He added: โI feel like the ambition in the squad is really good.
โWe have a good mix of qualities. We have a really good squad and a squad that is definitely capable of challenging to win the tournament.
โIโm hoping that we can build on this type of performance, keep improving and keep scoring goals and showing our qualities.โ
Rashford was happy with the way England bounced back from their goalless draw with the United States.
He told BBC One: โWe were a little bit disappointed as a team after the last game against the USA.
โI thought we could have played a lot better and the only way to bounce back from that is to have a good performance in your next game and I think we did that.
โFirst half, we defended brilliantly, we didnโt really give them any opportunities.
โAnd it was just about us killing the game off and taking the chances when they came.โ
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โ RTร Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 29, 2022
Marcus Rashford gets his second of the night to pile on more misery for Wales.
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On his free-kick opener, Rashford added: โI fancied one in the first half but the one in the second half was in a better position.
โAnd from there, itโs just about being calm and trying to execute what you practice in training.
โThey donโt go in often but Iโm pleased that it went in today.โ
Speaking about Rashford, Southgate told BBC One: โItโs great for him. Heโs trained really well, I have to say.
โHeโs really been impressive since he came back in with us. He could have had a hat-trick really, the chance in the first half, the one at the near post in the second. The free-kick, that is what heโs capable of, itโs an incredible strike really.โ
Kills me England won but happy for Rashford. One of the nicest guys playing football. Heโs a big star but he still lends his voice to support people who are struggling in the world. A true hero.
@John Fagan: donโt mind england winning . Canโt stand listening to some of their broadcaster about it though. Agree about rashford . A very grounded individual. Great talent and good example for young kids.
@Sean Partidge: Like we never get carried away still to the day about 1990/1994/2002? Granted a huge portion of their travelling fans are usually absolute skรผmbags, but majority at home are far from. Their TV media arenโt the worst. Itโs their job to get carried away. Weโre really not much different here.