Harry Maguire has broken his silence after being subjected to boos by large sections of the crowd at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday.
The Manchester United captain has struggled this season but still earned a place in the England squad that faced Switzerland and the Ivory Coast. Having not featured against the former, he started the friendly against the latter on Tuesday.
But Gareth Southgate 's decision to select Maguire was met by jeers from Three Lions fans, many of whom booed when his name was read out as the team was announced. Southgate, Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice have all slammed the fans who decided to boo.
And now Maguire has broken his silence on the boos his name was met with. The United skipper tweeted out a sarcastic message, that appeared to hit back at those who had jeered him, with the official England account retweeting him.
"Enjoyable week playing for my country," Maguire tweeted along with a heart and the England flag, with an image of him playing. The defender played all 90 minutes as England claimed a comfortable win over the Ivory Coast.
In their second game of the calendar year, the Three Lions were facing Patrice Beaumelle for the first time in their history. England were in control for much of the game, with Jude Bellingham putting in a man of the match performance from central midfield.
The hosts had plenty of chances, but it took until the half-hour mark for them to open the scoring when Raheem Sterling laid a perfect ball across the six-yard box for Ollie Watkins to tap-in. Fifteen minutes later, Sterling got on the scoresheet himself when a well-worked team move saw Jack Grealish volley the ball back to the England skipper to fire in.
Between those two goals, Ivory Coast captain Serge Auirer had been sent off after receiving two yellow cards. England struggled to take full advantage of their extra man and did not score a third goal until the 93rd minute when Tyrone Mings headed in Phil Foden's corner.
Following the win, Southgate was left shocked by the jeers that were aimed at Maguire. And the England boss slammed those who had jeered while lending his full support to the United skipper.
"I thought the reception was a joke, an absolute joke. What he's done for us, the way he's performed for England has been phenomenal. I don't get it. We're either all in this together or we're not," Southgate told Sky Sports.
"He's in an England shirt, not only should you support a player in an England shirt regardless, but when he's played at the level he has and put in the performances for us that he has, it should be total commitment behind him.
"I don't get that at all. For his performance, pretty faultless really, he stepped out from the back well, he was involved in the second as well. We're a team, we're totally united, we recognise everyone has difficult moments, but he's a top player and he'll come through it."
