Former England international Gary Neville believes Harry Maguire has shown that he can play at the top level of football after his stellar performance against Colombia, silencing his critics in the process.
England prevailed on a tough night at the Otkrytiye Arena after edging past a resilient Colombia side in the World Cup round-of-16 with a penalty shootout victory.
The match finished 1-1 on the night after an injury-time Yerry Mina header cancelled out Harry Kane’s opening goal; extra-time failed to split the two sides and so the tie entered a penalty shootout, with England winning 4-3.
Jordan Pickford took the plaudits after the match for his brilliant save to deny Carlos Bacca, before Eric Dier scored the decisive penalty to send England through to the quarter-finals, but centre-back Maguire has since been lauded for producing an emphatic performance against the South Americans.
Coming up against one of football’s most prolific strikers in Radamel Falcao, Neville believes Maguire demonstrated the requisite ruthlessness of a top-class defender, while further answering any doubts about his ability.
“I was going to mention [Maguire], and I’m glad that Glenn [Hoddle] did, because he does deserve a special mention,” Neville said during ITV’s coverage.
“Sometimes you think about a performance where someone goes from being a case of ‘are you sure about him?’, you know you’ve still got to ask the question. And one of the questions from before this tournament was, ‘is Harry Maguire going to be good enough to be an England centre-back?’ and then you see a performance like that tonight.
“It was absolutely brilliant. It had courage, [he was] stepping into midfield with authority. It was absolutely fantastic.”
Another former England international Ian Wright was quick to praise Maguire’s ability to carry the ball forward without fear, citing his exploits while plying his trade in England’s third-tier with Sheffield United.
Wright, a former MK Dons coach from 2012 to 2013, said: “I remember watching him when I was with MK Dons, and he was at Sheffield United. And he’d get the ball and just go through the team.
“The whole of the Sheffield United fans, when he got the ball were cheering, bigging him up, and he’d go through and everything because of the way he’d pass then ball and the way he ran with the ball. He’s got to this level and he still does it, he still tries it.
“He will come out of the back and try and run through picking out those passes – which opponents could be cutting out – and take chances with his passes. And we need that.”
England now face a crucial quarter-final clash against Scandinavian side Sweden on Saturday at the Samara Arena, with victory guaranteeing Gareth Southgate’s men a semi-final place against either Croatia or hosts Russia.
The post Harry Maguire answered doubters vs Colombia, says Gary Neville appeared first on Squawka News.
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