Jadon Sancho refuses to give up on his World Cup dream after being snubbed by Gareth Southgate.
Sancho responded to being ignored by Southgate for his final England squad before the finals in Qatar by scoring the opener in Manchester United ’s Europa League win over Sheriff Tiraspol. But there was misery for club captain Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, who were axed by Erik ten Hag on the day Southgate selected them.
Sancho’s goal was his third of the season and he aims to win back his England place for the World Cup. The winger, who held up his shinpads made for him by a fan after scoring, said: “Yeah, 100 per cent. That’s one of the targets.
“It’s unfortunate I didn’t get the call-up, but I just have to focus on myself and just keep on working hard week in, week out. That’s what I’m going to do. For sure, I have to make sure I’m ready.”
Ten Hag was delighted for Sancho and feels he can play even better.
“I’m really pleased for him,” said the United boss. “It’s another goal for him and I think this is his third goal of the season. So he’s doing well, but I think there is much more room for improvement from him because he has so much skill.”
Maguire’s starting prospects look grim ahead of the World Cup and Ten Hag praised centre-half pairing Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez for helping United keep their third clean sheet of the season.
“We defended very well with Raphael Varane in there as the leader, he puts everyone in the right position and he fits really good together with Lisandro Martinez,” said Ten Hag.
“It was a difficult start, but after we found a better formation, we scored a great goal and form that moment on, we dictated the game totally.”
