Marcus Rashford has revealed the which means behind his first aim celebration towards Wales.
The ahead dropped to his knees and pointed as much as the sky after scoring the primary of his two targets in England’s 3-0 victory on Tuesday evening.
He mentioned the celebration was in tribute to his pal Garfield Hayward who just lately handed away after a protracted battle with most cancers.
“Unfortunately I lost one of my friends a couple of days ago,” he mentioned in a post-match interview.
“He’s had quite a long battle with cancer, so I’m pleased I managed to score for him. He’s always been a big supporter of mine. He was just a great person and I’m pleased he came into my life, really.”
He added: “Moments like this, this is what I play football for. The biggest moments, the best moments.
“I’m completely happy we’re going via to the following spherical of the match as a result of I’ve huge ambitions for this group and I believe we are able to play even higher than we did right now.”
The 25-year-old made his first begin of the World Cup on the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday.
His brace put him joint high of the race for the golden boot with three targets, alongside France’s Kylian Mbappe, Dutchman Cody Gakpo and Enner Valencia of Ecuador.
Phil Foden, who additionally made his first World Cup begin on Tuesday, received England’s different aim.
Rashford performed on the final World Cup in 2018 and on the 2020 European Championships, however the Manchester United ahead was thought of lucky to make the squad for this 12 months’s match.
Ever since his miss within the penalty shootout loss to Italy within the Euro 2020 last, Rashford has been going via a turbulent interval in his profession, compounded by accidents.
“It has been a challenge for him,” mentioned England supervisor Gareth Southgate.
“I went and saw him in the summer, had a big chat with him and he had some clear ideas on things he felt he needed to think about.
“You can see along with his membership there was happiness in his performances and that has proven itself on the coaching floor. We have a special model (of him) utterly to the Euros. That’s nice for him and for us.”
Rashford put England within the lead with a free-kick within the fiftieth minute, with Foden scoring only a minute later.
Rashford made it 3-0 within the 68th minute after main a breakaway England assault.
The win assured England first place within the group. The group will subsequent face Senegal within the spherical of 16 on Sunday.
Source: information.sky.com”