The Times - UK (2020-10-14)

66 2GM Wednesday October 14 2020 | the times

SportFootball

Rashford aims

to keep scoring –

and speaking out

Rashford is a beacon of hope for

stricken families, a timely role model

for United fans to turn to for pride in

their club. Even traditional rivals

rushed to social media to salute

Rashford after he was appointed MBE,

the honour recommended by Boris

Johnson. Rashford reiterated his desire

to use the connection with No 10 to

force more change on childhood food

poverty. He sees the MBE’s usefulness.

“I was proud that the Queen had

recognised what I’d been trying to do,”

Rashford continues. “It’s raised a little

bit more awareness to the thing I was

doing. It [his MBE] got announced

when I was at camp [at St George’s Park

on Friday]. I’m happy that I managed to

experience it here amongst my team-

mates with the national team and

everyone’s just been really good. The

manager [Gareth Southgate] had a

little meeting and everyone gave me a

round of applause.”

He still gets told to “stick to football”

on social media. “You can’t control

what people are going to say about

you,” Rashford shrugs. And this needs

emphasising: Rashford will think of the

families, and he has messages from

children lasered into his boots, but

when tonight’s game starts, it is pure

football.

He’s dedicated to the sport, as the

numbers reveal: 80 goals in 258 appear-

ances for United and England, his 40th

cap tonight, taking responsibility in

pressured moments, penalties at Paris

Saint-Germain for United and against

Colombia in the World Cup for

England. He is only 22.

“I’ve done it in the best way possible:

I’ve still been focused on the pitch,” he

replies. “It [his campaigning] is some-

thing I don’t feel affects my football on

the pitch, that’s why I’m so enthusiastic

about it. I’ve still been working hard

and trying to help the team and that’s

something that will stick with me.

“It’s something I’ve been doing since

I can remember as a kid. It’s almost

second nature for me to be focused on

things on the pitch. I obviously need to

concentrate on my football, and ulti-

mately winning the games here with

the national team, but I’m confident in

the team of people I have behind me,

and I know 100 per cent they know ex-

actly what the families want.

“Playing for United and England at a

young age helped me mature a lot

quicker than I would’ve expected to.

I’m grateful for those opportunities and

very happy I was put in those positions.

I do feel like I’ve matured a lot. I feel like

I’m free to speak on things I feel

strongly about.”

Before the 2018 World Cup, Rashford

listened to Raheem Sterling talk about

racism and Danny Rose open up on

depression, players speaking their

minds. “There’s more people speaking

out on issues that they feel strongly

about,” Rashford says. “It’s a good thing

that people feel that freedom to speak

out on things that are important to

you.”

He is also delivering on the pitch. “I’m

very much enjoying my football whilst

helping people.”

Henry Winter

Chief Football

Writer

Wembley Stadium

Kick-off 7.45pm

England v Denmark

England (possible; 3-4-3)

Denmark (possible; 4-3-3)

J Pickford Everton

K Schmeichel Leicester

R James

Chelsea

M Mount

Chelsea

H Kane

Spurs

M Rashford

Man Utd

J Henderson

Liverpool

D Rice

W Ham

A Maitland-

Niles Arsenal

R Skov

Hoffenheim

D Wass

Valencia

A Christensen

Chelsea

S Kjær

AC Milan

M Brathwaite

Barcelona

Y Poulsen

Leipzig

K Dolberg

Nice

P-E Hojbjerg

Spurs

T Delaney

B Dortmund

C Eriksen

Inter Milan

H Maguire

Man Utd

K Walker

Man City

C Coady Wolves

or E Dier Spurs

of the development was evident, with

his faith in Trippier highlighted by the

fact he made him captain for last week’s

friendly win over Wales.

“The less I say the better,” Southgate,

the England manager, said. “What is

clear is I don’t have any influence on dis-

ciplinary procedure, which I think is

correct.

“I can’t be influencing when things

happen or how they play out.

“I spoke with Kieran last week and

the situation is what it is. We have had

several pull-outs over the past few

months for different reasons and this is

another that I’ve got to cope with.

There are a million distractions, frank-

ly, so this is another one, but it is some-

thing I have got to plough on through.

“We haven’t got him, I’d liked to have

had him. I’ve just got to prepare the

team with the players I’ve got. We

Late addition James in

always find solutions. It is an opportu-

nity for somebody else.”

Trippier’s independent hearing,

which is due to start today, is being

conducted over Zoom due to Covid-19

protocols. He has denied placing any

football-related bets or profiting from

others betting.

However it is understood that wagers

were placed by a small group of his

friends after conversations on

WhatsApp and the FA rules state it is an

offence to pass on inside information.

Daniel Sturridge, the former Liver-

pool striker, faced similar charges in

2019, with the FA calling for him to be

banned for six months.

When he was given a six-week sus-

pension, the FA appealed and a four-

month ban was implemented in March

this year. Sturridge, 31, terminated his

contract with the Turkish side Trab-

zonspor and remains without a club.

Since last November, Raheem

continued from back

When Marcus Rashford walks out at

Wembley against Denmark tonight he

will be giving everything to make his

team win, to carry England closer to the

Nations League finals, and to make his

friends and family even prouder.

The England forward, newly

appointed MBE for services to vulnera-

ble children, will also be playing for the

mother that he heard soaks three

pieces of bread in boiling water a day to

sustain herself and her two young sons.

He will be playing for the nine-year-old

falling asleep in class because she hands

over her free school meal vouchers,

wraps the food up and takes it home to

feed her younger siblings who don’t

qualify.

Rashford will be playing for those

schoolchildren so racked by hunger

that they take food from staff-room

fridges, for their self-conscious class-

mates carrying empty pack lunch box-

es to school just because they don’t

want to look like they aren’t eating.

Rashford knows these stories. He’s

spoken with the families. He was once

there himself, relying on food banks,

soup kitchens, free school meals and

the generosity of neighbours.

So as he passes the bust of Sir Alf

Ramsey near the England dressing

room and lines up in the tunnel,

Rahsford will be playing for the mother

who asked neighbours to watch over

her children while she “went for a job

interview” and subtly mentioning to

feed them if possible; the mother then

went to sit in the park for a few hours,

too embarrassed to admit she had

no other choice to feed her

offspring.

Rashford will be play-

ing for the family he

knows are living on one

mattress on the floor

because they’ve sold

every stick of furniture

to raise cash to keep their

children’s hunger at bay.

He’ll be playing for the

490,000 vulnerable children

who are worrying about no food

vouchers at October half-term, for the

near one million signed up for free

school meals.

Talking via Zoom last night, Rash-

ford thinks back to January, when his

focus on tackling childhood food

poverty really sharpened. “I had a back

injury,” he recalls, “so I couldn’t do any

exercise, couldn’t do any gym work, so

I was just doing recovery bits. I’ve

always struggled when I don’t have

anything to work towards.”

He analysed the situation, read

books on distribution, working out the

best way to get food to schools. “So at

the beginning I had more of an input

than I do now,” Rashford says. “Now it’s

about keeping momentum, and as long

as things move in the right direction

and I can see the numbers are dropping

and more and more families [are] seek-

ing help, and they don’t feel ashamed to

ask for help, they’re the things that

make me happy.”

This is England 2020 for many. And

for some of them, England’s No 11 is

their last hope. Every time that

Rashford and his team, encompassing

his remarkable mother and brothers,

friends and trusted associates, all work-

ing tirelessly, meet these troubled fami-

lies, it drives them on even more.

“Every single day it shocks me,” Rash-

ford says. “It’s not until people see the

numbers. I’ve had the chance to visit

some of the families, and some of the

families I’ve managed to help and hear

how it’s affected them and changed

their lives. It’s just mind-blowing

the amount of people suffering

and the amount of people

who don’t know where to

get the help.

“There’s been lots of

different messages [sent

to me], and they all af-

fect me. It’s just sad to

know it’s still going on.

“I was in that position

when I was younger, and

some of the families are in

much worse positions than I was, so

I can only imagine what it feels like for

the parents and the children who just

want the best for one another.”

Rashford was talking to a small group

of England football writers last night

and usually such “matchday -1” brief-

ings involve discussion of the game in

store. He will, of course, attack with his

usual precision and pace tonight, swap-

ping flanks with Mason Mount, sup-

porting and running past Harry Kane.

But Rashford’s MBE, awarded on Fri-

day, changed the dialogue. Some things

matter more than football. Rashford,

too, represents a more wholesome

embodiment of the great values of

Manchester United than the club’s

owner, Joel Glazer.

England v

Denmark

Tonight, 7,45pm

TV: Sky Sports Main Event

Radio: 5 Live and

talkSPORT

Rashford, left,

and Abraham

see the funny

side of training

with England

20

Of their past 21

competitive home

internationals England

have won, losing only to

Spain in September

2018

4

Consecutive England

games in which Rashford

has scored — the youngest

England player to score

four in a row since

Jimmy Greaves in

1961