An emotional Luke Shaw has revealed his grandmother died on the eve of the World Cup.
Shaw's nan passed away shortly before the tournament and manager Gareth Southgate was willing to let the Manchester United ace, 27, leave the England camp. It was a telling response from the Three Lions boss, as Shaw is the only recognised left-back in his squad.
Yet Shaw insists he rejected Southgate's offer of compassionate leave because he wanted to fulfil his dream of playing at this year's World Cup. The defender's career has been blighted by injuries, with him missing the last World Cup in Russia four-and-a-half years ago.
"My nan sadly passed away, she had cancer for a long while and, unfortunately, she passed away just before the first game," said Shaw. "Gareth was really good with me, spoke to me and asked if everything was okay and did I need to have time away.
"So this World Cup means so much to me. I didn’t want to miss anything. I’ve had time to grieve. You could say it is part of my motivation - she was a really important part of my childhood, I spent a lot of time with her. She had cancer for a long while and had suffered a lot."
England are highly-dependent on Shaw in Qatar as fellow left-back Ben Chilwell was ruled out of the tournament through injury. The former Southampton star has started every game and is likely to continue doing so until the team's campaign comes to an end.
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Yet Southgate appreciates the mental wellbeing of his players is more important than team results. Southgate's other options for the left-back role are Bukayo Saka and Kieran Trippier, with the latter replacing Shaw during the second half of Tuesday night's victory over Wales.
Shaw's determination to play for England is obvious when you look at his career so far. Several injuries, including a double leg break in September 2015, have limited him to 295 club and 26 international appearances. He even went three years without playing for England.
Shaw was viewed as a wonderkid at Southampton and made his debut for England aged 18. He was part of the squad for the World Cup in Brazil eight years ago and played against Costa Rica. Aged 18, he was the youngest player to appear at the tournament.
Yet injuries and a lack of form meant he missed the next two tournaments. He made his comeback ahead of Euro 2020 and played an important role in England's run to final and even scored in that game. The Three Lions went on to lose to Italy on penalties.
England's win against Wales secured top spot in Group B, with United States also progressing after they defeated Iran on the same night. England's last-16 opponents are Senegal on Sunday, while US will take on Group A winners Netherlands.
England's hero against Wales was Marcus Rashford, who scored a brace to become the World Cup's joint-leading scorer. Shaw added: "Marcus is so good, with the talent he’s got, he can be unplayable. Against Wales, he showed that.
"I think he needs to deliver that in every single game he plays because he has got the quality that makes the difference - he’s an unbelievable player and a very important player for us and hopefully he can keep his standards high and help us go far in this tournament.
"I’m very confident he can keep doing it - I see it day in, day out and he took his chance against Wales. He needs to keep that standard high because he is a really important player."
