Marcus Rashford began playing at the age of eight alongside Scott McTominay.
Having come through the system at Manchester United together, he’s proud that he’ll share one of game’s biggest stages with his pal after being on a journey with him through youths into stars on the global arena.
There’s just one tiny disappointment for the striker – that McTominay will be wearing a Scotland strip and not a team-mate with England.
Rashford and his buddy will be head to head at Wembley tomorrow after years as colleagues.
McTominay was born in England and could have represented the Three Lions.
The midfielder, of course, chose the roots of his family to pick Scotland and is now a senior member of Steve Clarke’s squad.
McTominay is set for a 25th cap at Wembley and Rashford says it will be a special moment to face his club-mate.
But, asked if it would have been even more special if they were lining up together, he smiled and replied: “Yeah. Definitely.
“We have been lucky and privileged enough to line up together at Manchester United for so many years now.
“I spoke to him the other day. It’s going to be a different experience for us, but it’s definitely one I’m proud of.
“We have been playing together since we were eight or nine years old, so to be playing against each other in one of the biggest competitions in football is an amazing achievement.
“You can’t really explain those moments. Someone that you’ve grown up with.
“There’s a few at United, it’s just a huge sense of pride and it’s not really for me. It’s seeing Scott’s journey and his family’s journey.
“There’s so many players and you’re proud to see them wearing the shirt and it makes it special that it’s a journey together.
“It’s going to be a bit strange to play against each other, but at the same time, I’m really proud for him, his mum and his dad and his family because it is something he has been working for his whole life.
“You have to live for now. You can’t live for the past. Yes, he’s done what he’s done in a United shirt but he has other dreams to represent his country in the biggest competitions.
“I’m just really proud he’s managed to get an opportunity this year. I’m just looking forward to it and, hopefully, we win.”
Rashford doesn’t just have Scottish connections with McTominay.
As a United icon, Sir Alex Ferguson ’s presence around the club has also helped to shape his career.
Rashford said: “The first time I met him, I was a kid, Maybe eight or nine years old. You do a tour of the training ground and you do it every year from then on.
“I remember the first time not as being a scary moment but one you are a bit nervous about.
“But he has always been in touch with the academy and the way Manchester United was built. He was the one who re-established that and one of the main reasons why the club is how it is. Why it always produces academy players that do well in the first team.
“He is somebody that the whole of the academy looks up to. It is important people know his history. So when his film came out, a lot of the players went to watch it. I know a few of the academy players watched
it.”
