James Madison is set to be handed a start as part of the England team predictions in their Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine. There were considerable appeals for Maddison to be named to England’s World Cup team, however, he was unable to play a single minute due to injury. After making his international debut as a substitute against Montenegro three and a half years ago, Maddison has missed out on playing for his country due to injury and selection issues. In his career, he has only played 35 minutes of senior international football. His approach in Qatar, in which he remained positive and supportive of his teammates even when he did not receive his chance in the game, impressed England manager Gareth Southgate and the rest of the England coaching staff.
His recent training efforts have mirrored this, and the 26-year-old now appears ready to start in the Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine, earning his first cap since 2019. On the left of the front three, he is set to replace Jack Grealish, who failed to make an impact against a physical Italian defense.
Southgate stated that Ivan Toney is “quite much” on his mind for the game against Ukraine. After the announcement of Reece James’ withdrawal from the squad earlier on Saturday, England manager Gareth Southgate said Jordan Henderson and Jude Bellingham are fit to play in the Group C match at Wembley.
“Ivan has performed admirably. We like him a lot and keep him in our minds,” England boss Gareth Southgate said before their game against Ukraine. “Jordan hadn’t practiced much with Liverpool the previous week due to illness, but he’s back in action today. They’re all OK. Obviously, Kalvin played his first 90 minutes for a short time against Italy, so we’ll have to measure freshness, but that applies to the entire squad. We must strike a balance between continuity and consistency, as well as freshness.”
Southgate has backed Marcus Rashford’s choice to travel to the United States after being forced to withdraw from the England camp due to injury. Few players in the world are in better form than the reinvigorated Manchester United forward, who has scored 19 goals in 25 matches since his World Cup performance. Rashford made his first England appearance since missing a penalty shootout in the Euro 2020 final against Italy, which was followed by a difficult year in terms of form and fitness. The 25-year-old was called up for a European qualification double-header against Italy and Ukraine in March, but he was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury in the FA Cup quarter-final against Fulham.
“I was asked the other day if we missed him, and it came down to semantics. But he’s in good shape; we’d love to have had him as a camp option, but we don’t have him,” he added. “Then I have to consider what is the best answer and its implications for other people.”
That is not the first time Rashford has withdrawn from a squad, but Southgate dismissed the notion that it could jeopardize his future call-ups.
“We usually make decisions based on how players play, and he’s obviously played a lot for us. He now has almost 50 England caps, nearly half of which have come since I became manager,” Southgate continued. “I’ve known him for quite some time. I’m aware of what he’s capable of. It’s encouraging to see him in goal-scoring form. You’re expecting him to score when he gets a chance right now. There has been a time in the last couple of years where he hasn’t been as hot as that, which has been upsetting for everyone, but he is in fantastic form and we hope that continues.”
Germany will host the tournament, which will take place from June 14 to July 14, 2024. The format will be the same as Euro 2020, with the top two in each of the six final tournament groups, as well as the four best third-place finishers, advancing to the round of 16. The champions and runners-up of each group proceed to the final competition of 24 teams. The remaining three teams will be determined by the playoffs, which will feature 12 teams chosen based on their performance in the 2022/23 Nations League.
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