Marcus Rashford has offered his verdict on the booing English fans after a disappointing goalless draw with the USA.
England currently top Group B and are in pole position to top the group as things stand.
Gareth Southgate’s side swept Iran aside on the opening gameweek and the 6-2 result perhaps raised the expectations of fans across the country.
England struggled to break down the USA in what turned out to be a game of few chances.
Southgate’s side only managed to register three shots on target and were seemingly booed off by a section of the crowd at full-time.
Rashford has delivered his verdict on the result and the reaction which followed.
“I feel like if we play well in the next game, that USA game will be forgotten,” said Rashford (via BBC Sport).
“It’s not a nice feeling. But to be honest we don’t need fans to boo us to know we have not played well. It was a feeling that was mutual among the group – that we could have done better.
“You do question if you would have changed things in the build-up to the game but that is natural as players because you want to win as many games as you can. When you don’t win it’s disappointing but we can’t be so negative about it. We’re in a good position in the group.
“When you win a game, you are the best team in the world. When you lose, you are the worst. That’s football. As players you have to keep a balance.”
The Manchester United forward has been used as a second-half substitute for England in each of their matches so far.
He was on target with a goal against Iran, but struggled to make an impact against the USA.
The England manager claimed that he was expecting a tough game after they had easily dispatched Iran in their opener.
“I knew it would be difficult for us after such a high (against Iran) to replicate that type of performance, so I’m really pleased with how the players have applied themselves,” Southgate told ITV.
“Some of our quality in the final third could have been a little bit better, but we’ve shown great resilience to defend against an opponent that kept asking questions and we’ve just not been able to open them up with that really clear-cut chance.
“We didn’t quite have that same zip but this is going to happen with tournament football. We’re not going to roll through a tournament and sweep through everybody without having nights like that where you’ve got to show different qualities to get the result.
“Silver medal today was a point because it puts us in a really strong position in terms of qualification. If we can win our last game (against Wales on Tuesday) we win the group.
“The objective is to get out of the group, you get three games to do it. We’ve done it in two games the last two tournaments, but it’s very unrealistic to expect that every time.”
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