Jose Mourinho has dished out some rare praise to Luke Shaw as he continues to light up Euro 2020 this summer.
Ahead of tonight's semi-final showdown with Denmark at Wembley, England are yet to concede a goal in the summer tournament and are dreaming of a first major final since 1966.
Having missed out on a place in the group opener, Shaw has been named by Gareth Southgate in each of his last four starting line-ups, while Manchester United teammate Harry Maguire returned from an ankle ligament injury to take his own spot in England's water-tight defence.
Denmark, too, have prolific, attacking options from their wide defensive positions.
However, according to Mourinho — whose public chastisement of Shaw during their time together at United is now well documented — has claimed that the Danes will be more fearful of what they are up against at Wembley.
The winners will go on to meet Italy at the same iconic venue in Sunday night's final.
Speaking ahead of the Wembley clash, Mourinho told The Times: "I don't see Denmark's wing-backs playing very offensively. They will be worried about the England full-backs. From day one, Kyle Walker has been amazing. Luke Shaw is improving game after game. He's getting better and better."
On the return of Maguire, he added: "Denmark will not be an easy team to break down. They are solid, consistent and have found a good balance with the three at the back, I believe, as a consequence of losing Christian Eriksen, their number 10 and the connection with the attackers.
"Tyrone Mings did well in the first two games, but Harry Maguire is different. He has something more.
"He scores more goals from set-pieces. He clearly has a voice. He is the captain of Manchester United. He uses that status, that power in the leadership, even in the communication with referees. You can see he's quite arrogant with referees and you need that arrogance, in a polite way.
"He doesn't have the armband, but he acts on the pitch as a captain."
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