“Why did you pick Henderson and Maguire?”

 Gareth Southgate, the manager of the England national soccer team, defended some national team players when they were booed by fans.

British media 'Daily Star' reported on the 17th (Korean time), "Coach Southgate decided to select the national team based on 'popularity' after fans recently booed Jordan Henderson (Al IT Park) and Harry Maguire (Manchester United). He claimed that he would not do it,” the report said.

Recently, English soccer fans booed Henderson and Maguire during an international match. In particular, in a friendly match against Australia that won 1-0 with Ollie Watkins' winning goal at Wembley Stadium in London, England on the 14th, Henderson was booed by fans when he was substituted in the 6th minute of the second half.

Maguire is also the target of criticism from fans every time, and was ridiculed by Scottish fans when he scored an own goal during an international match against Scotland last September. The game ended in a 3-1 win with England scoring three goals.

The reasons why the two players are being criticized by fans are as follows. First, the legendary Henderson, who started playing for Liverpool in 2011 and played a total of 492 games over 12 years, moved to Al IT Park, led by coach Steven Gerrard, ahead of the new season.

Henderson, who inherited the captain's armband from Gerrard, ushered in the club's heyday as Liverpool captain by winning eight championships, including winning the UEFA Champions League in the 2018/19 season.

However, some fans expressed great disappointment over Henderson's transfer to Al Ittihak. They felt betrayed that Henderson, who had publicly supported sexual minorities, had gone to the Middle East, where sexual minority rights were being oppressed.

Also, some were not pleased with the fact that England, a world-renowned soccer powerhouse, selected a player from the Middle East, rather than a major European league, to the national team. Therefore, regardless of Henderson's performance, England's home fans booed Henderson in the game against Australia.

Maguire has become the target of criticism due to suspicions of favoritism from manager Southgate. Maguire, a large defender with a height of 194 cm and a weight of 100 kg, has been pushed out of the competition for the starting position at Manchester United since last season, and after playing two games as a substitute after the opening of this season, he was sent to Brentwood in the 8th round of the 2023/24 Premier League on the 8th ahead of the A match in October. In the game against Purd, he was given the opportunity to start due to injuries to defenders and played his first full-time league start of the season.

Despite not being guaranteed playing time in his team, coach Southgate showed his unwavering trust and affection and included Maguire in the A match list in September and again in October. Although Maguire was pushed out of the competition for the starting spot within Manchester United, he appeared as a starter in all five games from the group stage to the quarterfinals at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and played six A matches in 2023 as well.

In the match against Australia, Maguire remained on the bench as Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan) and Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion) formed the starting centre-back combination, and coach Southgate chose to place him on the bench rather than a player who is performing well for his team. Suspicions of favoritism, such as selecting players you like, continue to persist.

As the home fans poured criticism and boos at Henderson and Maguire, Manager Southgate showed that he had no intention of giving up his thoughts, saying, "Selection for the England national team is not a 'popularity contest.'"

“If the line-up was decided by a popularity contest, our team would be very different,” said Southgate. “We will select the best player who gives .”

Regarding the incident in which Henderson was booed, he said, "I don't think that's a reason to not choose Henderson and boo him. I hope all the fans are behind us," and asked the fans to cheer rather than boo.

England is scheduled to face Italy in the 8th round of Group C of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers on the 18th. Attention will be paid to whether England fans will cheer, rather than boo, Henderson and Maguire through manager South Gates' persuasion.

스포츠토토