Somali Magazine September 13,2023-Despite his own goal in the Scotland friendly on Tuesday evening, England manager Gareth Southgate defended Harry Maguire, calling the seasoned defender’s “ridiculous treatment” “a joke.”
“It’s a result of ridiculous treatment of him (Maguire) for a long period of time frankly,” Southgate said following England’s 3-1 victory at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
“I think our fans realised, ‘OK, there may be some heat from our own fans, but we’re not going to have others get into him.'” But it’s all in good fun. “I’ve never seen a player treated the way he is,” Southgate added.
“Not by Scottish fans, but by our own commentators, pundits, or whatever you want to call them.” They’ve developed something unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He’s been an incredible pillar for us in the second-most successful England squad in decades – he’s been an incredibly essential part of that,” Southgate said, hailing him as a “great player.”
England’s scorers in the friendly match against Scotland were Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, and Harry Kane.
Maguire, 30, a centre defender for Manchester United since 2019, earned his 59th international cap for England on Tuesday. He was a key member of the Three Lions’ runs to the 2018 FIFA World Cup semifinals and the UEFA EURO 2020 final.
Many people have been mocking Maguire on social media for a long time when he makes significant mistakes or scores own goals for his team or England.
Manchester United signed Maguire from another English Premier League team, Leicester City, for a world record sum of £80 million ($97 million) in 2019.