Rashford two goals to hide his grief over the loss of his friend
England striker Marcus Rashford (25, Manchester United) kneeled down after scoring the first goal and raised his arms to face the sky. Just a moment ago, he was sharing his joy with his colleagues, but he muttered to himself with a face that completely disappeared. No one knew the meaning of the ceremony.
This happened in the fifth minute of the second half of the match against Wales in the third Group B match of the 2022 Qatar World Cup at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Alaiyan on the 30th (Korea Standard Time). His score was fantastic. A free kick was wound from the left side of the penalty arc and put it into the upper right corner of the opponent’s net.
He showed up at a press conference after scoring two goals to advance to the round of 16 with a 3-0 victory and seven points and top of the group, and confessed that his friend, who left for the other world two days ago, was a ceremony in honor of Field Howard. Howard said he had been fighting cancer for a long time and collapsed. “He was a really good friend, and he was a deliberate supporter,” he said. “I’m glad I scored for my friend today.”
Rashford reportedly prepared for the match by swallowing the pain alone without notifying his friend’s death. “I didn’t know Rashford had a hard time,” England coach Gareth Southgate said. “Today’s game would have been a big challenge for Rashford.”
Rashford scored a decisive goal with a left-footed shot after receiving a ball from the back in the 23rd minute of the second half when Phil Forden (Manchester City) ran 2-0 with Harry Kane’s World Cup debut goal in the 6th minute of the second half. He was named the Player of the Match, the best player of the game.
Recalling the 0-0 draw against the U.S. on the 26th, Rashford said, “The way to make up for bad performance is to do well in the next game. We showed disappointment in the last game, but we recovered through today’s game.” “I have a huge ambition in the England national team,” he said. “We will be able to go much higher.”
Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate (52), who has been in charge of England for seven years, drew attention. He made a bold decision to completely change the second-line offense, but it worked properly worked.
Southgate believes that second-line strikers such as Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Mason Mount, and Raheem Sterling (Chelsea) have rarely penetrated the opponent’s sticky defense network due to England’s struggle against the U.S. Kane on the front line was isolated as they failed to deliver the ball properly.
He removed all the second-line strikers who started against the U.S. and put Rashford and Forden as starters to form a triangular formation with Kane. The two, who had excellent speed, took the lead in the great victory by breaking through the Welsh camp throughout the game.
Rashford, who scored his debut goal in the World Cup finals against Iran, scored three goals in the tournament, tied for the top of the scoring rankings with Kylian Mbappe (France), Ener Valencia (Equador) and Cody Hakpo (The Netherlands).
Southgate, who played for the England national team as a good defender during his active career, made great achievements, including the semifinals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and the runner-up of the European Football Championship (Euro) 2020. However, fans of “Football’s Family” think that they should resolve their regret that they have never won major tournaments such as the World Cup and the Euro since the 1966 World Cup in their country. English fans believe this is a great opportunity to resolve the resentment of major tournaments as goaltender Kane has also opened his eyes to “help” and “playmaking” and is rich in talented second-line striker resources such as Rashford and Forden.
England will compete with Senegal, the second-ranked team in Group A, who dramatically advanced to the round of 16, at Albait Stadium in Alcor at 4 a.m. on the 5th.
