Gareth Southgate gives verdict on Harry Maguire & Nick Pope mistakes | OneFootball

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·26 September 2022

Gareth Southgate gives verdict on Harry Maguire & Nick Pope mistakes

Article image:Gareth Southgate gives verdict on Harry Maguire & Nick Pope mistakes

Gareth Southgate refused to pin any blame on Harry Maguire or Nick Pope after their costly mistakes in England's 3-3 Nations League draw with Germany.

Manchester United defender Maguire was booed by fans when his name was read out and a moment of madness saw him give the ball straight to Jamal Musiala and then foul him in the penalty area.


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Ilkay Gundogan put away the resulting spot kick before Kai Havertz made it 2-0, but a stirring comeback from the Three Lions saw them go 3-2 up thanks to strikes from Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Harry Kane.

However, Nick Pope then made a mess of a simple shot, spilling it to allow Havertz to score his second and earn the Germans a point.

On Maguire's penalty mishap, Southgate said: "It is hard to tell from the side. It is the giving away of possession that is the problem, but look, as a group they have really come together this week. It has been a tough period for the team but they have grown.

"To an extent, we are always going to face pressure so we need to be exposed to pressure. We played a friendly against Ivory Coast in March and they went to ten men and it became a non-event and we learnt nothing. This week we've learnt a huge amount. They've had to step forward and come together - it will benefit us in the long run."

On Pope, he added: "It is an error and of course he's going to be down but the team has to be together and we have done that all week.

"Tonight, in the end, a couple of errors have cost us the goals but I'll focus on the fact they played with tremendous spirit and showed a belief that we haven't shown in the last few games. I thought the crowd saw that and rose to that."

England don't play again until their World Cup opener, when they take on Iran on 21 November.

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