Marcus Rashford: Colombia penalty shootout biggest England moment
The Man Utd striker discussed England's first World Cup penalty shootout win, playing under Gareth Southgate and helping others during the coronavirus lockdown
Friday 24 April 2020 10:47, UK
Marcus Rashford says scoring in the 2018 World Cup penalty shootout against Colombia has been his biggest England moment.
The Manchester United striker stepped up after a 1-1 draw in the last 16 match led to the lottery of spot kicks, which England won for the first time in World Cup history, beating their opponents 4-3 in Moscow.
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Rashford opened up on the experience while looking back on his 10 England goals thus far in a chat with Adam Smith on the team's social media channels.
He said: "I know it doesn't count as a goal but it would be the penalty against Colombia in the shootout. That was probably the biggest moment.
"England as a nation hadn't won in a penalty shootout in a long time and we always spoke about that as a team, changing the perception of what the England national team plays like. We just wanted to be ourselves and create our own style and even if we lost that game, we wanted to lose it playing the way we play.
"That was a massive moment and big for the team going through on a penalty shootout."
Rashford also praised the contribution of manager Gareth Southgate, who ultimately guided the team to the semi-finals in Russia, and discussed the excitement of playing with some of England's emerging young talent.
"When he [Southgate] came in as manager, he had his own ideas of what he wanted to implicate and credit to him, he came in, stuck to his plan and did it," he said.
"The first thing he has to do is get all the players on topic and [we had to] understand what he wants from us. That's the biggest thing for a manager, especially in the national team because he doesn't have as much time as a club manager so his job is probably more difficult.
"But he's managed to do it and he's taken a lot of pressure off the players with things such as the media, he's changed the way we do that and he's taken all the right steps as a manager. I think the players really enjoying playing under him and if you do that, you'll win games.
"Exciting is the first word that comes to mind [with the current England team]. You're excited about everything really and I don't think we know 100 per cent as a team how far we can really go because there is a lot of talent in that group and it's full of young players.
"Everyone is hungry, everyone is determined and motivated to do their best, the best we can for the country, the manager, your team-mates and for yourself. We're in a good place right now and going forward, we do really want to win a major competition."
During the current football shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Rashford has been keeping himself occupied at home while also supporting the local community with the Fare Share scheme.
The FA has also been running the #FootballsStayingHome campaign on their social media channels, helping to keep fans entertained and informed during the current lockdown.
Rashford added: "I'm keeping myself ticking over in the gym, reading some books to keep my mind activated, a bit of PlayStation, watching some films and that's about it. Like I said, I'm just trying to keep active.
"I've also been helping with Fare Share, which is an organisation that enables children who aren't getting their free school meals to have meals every day. We started that off and it actually had a really good impact and we raised just over £20m. We've managed to reach 1,280,000 kids so it's had a positive impact."
Head over to England's YouTube channel to see the full chat with Marcus Rashford and Adam Smith.
