England star Harry Maguire has defended his goal celebration following Friday evening’s win over Albania at Wembley.
The Manchester United captain opened the scoring by heading in a Reece James cross less than ten minutes into the World Cup qualifier and duly cupped his ears before gesturing that he was blocking out the noise, having attracted his fair share of criticism for his performances at club level this season.
Roy Keane, who was on punditry duty as part of ITV’s coverage, labeled the 28-year-old as “embarrassing” and “a disgrace for Man Utd this season”.
Speaking after the game, however, Maguire insisted the celebration was not directed at anyone in particular and that he was fully understanding of the criticism being the captain of one of the biggest clubs in the world was always likely to attract.
“No, it wasn’t directed at no one, it was a knee slide, I obviously put my hands on my ears,” he said.
“I’m Manchester United captain, of course I’m going to get criticism when the team isn’t doing well. I fully expect that but it wasn’t directed at anyone.“Scoring for your country is a great feeling. The first goal in a crucial qualifier, we knew how important the game was... how important the first goal was.”
