United duo reflect on World Cup elimination
Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford have delivered their verdict on England's loss to France.
Our English trio, Maguire, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw were beaten 2-1 by Raphael Varane's French side in the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Saturday evening (10 December).
Goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud sealed the win for Les Bleus, with England striker Harry Kane scoring one penalty and hitting another over as Gareth Southgate's side fell to a narrow defeat against the reigning champions.
In a post-match interview with BBC Sport, Maguire said the loss was "difficult to take," as he felt the Three Lions had dictated proceedings and deserved to progress.
Varane through as Reds trio are knocked out
ArticleRapha's France advance to the World Cup's last four, after beating an England side featuring Maguire, Rashford and Shaw.
"We delivered, we've dominated the game, we've dominated the ball, we've dominated the chances, we've had all the pressure," he said.
"This is tournament football - you can find yourself on the end of a result because they've been clinical in two moments and we haven't.
"This is why there's so many upsets and why everyone loves tournament football; because anything can happen. But we know that we've played well tonight, but ultimately not well enough."
After Tchouameni's first-half opener, England levelled the score early in the second half through Kane's first penalty. Giroud restored the lead for France midway through the second period, and with little time left to play, Southgate's side were awarded a second spot-kick.
Kane, who had beaten Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Hugo Lloris once already in the game stepped up again, but the striker squandered the opportunity to make it 2-2 and force extra time.
Following the match, Maguire was quick to defend his national team captain.
"He's our leader, he's our captain - and we follow him.," he said. "He's been magnificent ever since I've stepped in to make my debut for my country. He's been here, he's been a leader, he's welcomed me and he'll pick himself up."
Last night hurt. Absolutely gutted. Special thanks to Gareth and you amazing fans who kept belief in me. I love my country and I hope we made you proud. 🏴🦁 pic.twitter.com/8qd4rJcaIm
— Harry Maguire (@HarryMaguire93) December 11, 2022
Maguire continued: "He's a world class striker and when you take as many penalties as he does through a season, he's going to miss some.
"He'll be hurt, he'll be disappointed, as are all of us - of course we're not looking at it and blaming H [Kane]. He's our talisman, he's got us out of trouble so many times in the past and ultimately we weren't clinical enough throughout the game, not just H with his penalty."
Marcus Rashford took to Twitter to share his thoughts on England bowing out of the competition.
The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotions, each and every one of our team gave everything we had to be ready for what was thrown at us, we got close, but not close enough.
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) December 11, 2022
I’ll make a promise that we will come again!
Thank you for the unconditional support. pic.twitter.com/G964SZYiCL
Our no.10 thanked fans for their unconditional support, writing: "The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotions, each and every one of our team gave everything we had to be ready for what was thrown at us, we got close, but not close enough."
While our English trio bow out, Varane moves onto the semi-finals with defending world champions France.
They will face Morocco - who have eliminated Spain and Portugal - in the hopes of securing their spot in a second successive final, and that game will take place on Wednesday 14 December, with kick-off at 19:00 GMT.