Manchester City and England right-back Kyle Walker has opened up on the groin injury that put his World Cup at risk, as well as the life experiences that help keep him motivated.
Walker has been a regular starter for both City and England for a number of years now, but when he suffered a groin injury in early October that required surgery, his place in Gareth Southgate's World Cup squad looked uncertain.
However, despite not playing since City's 6-3 defeat of Manchester United October 2, Walker travelled to Qatar. After missing England's opening game win against Iran, he is available for selection for the match against the United States on Friday.
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"It was a rupture on my groin," the 32-year-old said. "I got four hooks on my groin, and I did three repairs, but it’s going fantastically well. I’m really happy with it.
"Everyone seems to be happy with it, we kept in close contact with the surgeon, with the medics at City and also with here [the England camp].
"I just have to say a big thank you to everyone for giving me this opportunity to actually be here."
Walker went on to discuss his motivation at City, with the club criticised for shelling out £45million for the England international following his move from Tottenham in 2017. He claimed he enjoys the challenge of trying to prove people wrong and that his upbringing had a big part to play in his mentality.
“When I signed for Manchester City, it was: ‘I can’t believe they paid that much for a full-back.’ It gives me that motivation and I do like to go out and show people," he added. "Maybe it is my upbringing. Where I grew up, you had to survive.”
Walker currently has 70 England caps and will be hoping to add to those over the next few weeks. Newcastle's Kieran Trippier started at right-back against Iran in his absence, but there is the possibility that both could feature in the same line-up if Southgate opts to set his side up with a back five rather than a back four.
In the weeks before Southgate announced his final England squad, City boss Pep Guardiola was optimistic that both Walker and City teammate Kalvin Phillips would be fit to play at the tournament.
After the US match England will take on Wales in their final group game, before turning their attentions to the last 16 should they get there.
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