Maguire believes England's run to the 2018 World Cup semi-final and Euro 2020 final has changed expectations forever, while Kyle Walker insists England cannot afford to fixate on Kylian Mbappe alone
to excel again for his country. Due to issues with form and fitness, he has played only 280 Premier League minutes this season, causing fears that he would be rusty and leading to calls for him to be dropped from England’s starting team.
“I go back to my past memories and performances at tournaments,” he said. “When there is a squad decided or team picked for England, there are always players who ‘shouldn’t be playing’. Two years ago I was in the Euros team of the tournament so I know what I’m capable of. England view the match with France as an opportunity to leave their own mark on the competition, to make a marque move that underpins the progress made since making the semi-finals four years ago.” Walker said. “The game is not England vs Mbappe. The game is England v France. We respect that he’s a good player and in good form but I’m not going to roll out the red carpet for him and tell him to go and score. I’m representing my country at a quarter-final of a World Cup. It’s do or die.
“Favourites. Not favourites. It’s a game of football, 90 plus minutes. We take our hats off to them. They are world champions. They have the respect they deserve. They won the last World Cup. But I can assure you that each and every one of us will not be rolling out the red carpet for them to go out and perform, thinking it’s a theatre for them to showcase their great talent. We have also got great talent that we need to be speaking about as well.
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