England player Marcus Rashford has revealed the reason behind his emotional celebration after scoring the first goal against Wales on Tuesday night.
Marcus, who earlier this year proposed to his girlfriend, dominated Tuesday’s game in Qatar that ended with a 3-0 England Victory, with Marcus himself scoring twice.
England took the top spot in Group B and will now advance to the last 16 alongside the likes of Portugal, France, the USA, and Senegal.
After his first goal last night, the Manchester United forward dropped to his knees and pointed to the sky, dedicating his goal to his fallen friend, Garfield Hayward, who tragically passed away two days before the game following a long battle against cancer.
Speaking on the moment in his post-match interview, the Manchester lad said: “Unfortunately I lost one of my friends a couple of days ago.
“He's had quite a long battle with cancer, so I'm pleased I managed to score for him.
“He's always been a big supporter of mine. He was just a great person and I'm pleased he came into my life, really.”
Gareth Southgate, who was not aware of Marcus’ heartbreak, commented on the two goals and suggested that Marcus could’ve secured three.
“He could have had a hat-trick, really, with the chance in the first half and then the one at the near post towards the end,” he said.
Marcus also took to Twitter following the game, sharing a snap of himself and his teammates celebrating the goals.
“Last 16 here we come,” he wrote.
Speaking to the BBC post-game, Marcus said: “It's obviously a great feeling. We were disappointed as a team after the last game, we could have played a lot better.
“The only way to bounce back is to play better in your next game.
“Moments like this, this is what I play football for. I am really happy today to be going into the next round of the tournament, because I have massive ambition for this team and I think we can go a lot further.”
Following the game, Gareth Southgate promised to treat his players with a milkshake back at the hotel.
Gareth, who became a fashion icon a few years back thanks to his classy sense of style, said: “We’ve got loads of milkshake back at the hotel!
“Everything is different here, isn’t it? We’re embracing it.
“We love our base camp, the people who are operating the hotel are fabulous. We’re enjoying each other’s company, the players are really tight.”
The manager also revealed that the team has the day off today, before facing off against Senegal on Sunday.
“They get a day off now. They need that breather. They don’t have to look at our faces, which I’m sure they’re delighted with,” he added.
“We can start to prepare for the knockout round. The big business starts now, really.”
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