Injury blow just hours before the opening game hits the Three Lions
England have suffered a dramatic injury blow just hours before the World Cup opener, and one of the stars could now be out of the entire tournament.
The Three Lions begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday night, but their preparations have taken a serious hit. Thomas Tuchel’s side also face Ghana and Panama in Group L, and their ambitions are sky-high – but now they will have to do without a key player.
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England had a seemingly trouble-free pre-season with victories over New Zealand and Costa Rica, but just before the first match, bad luck struck.
Livramento out of the World Cup after injury in training
According to The Telegraph, defender Tino Livramento suffered a hamstring injury during training, and he is now expected to miss the entire summer championship.
The 23-year-old fullback played 45 minutes in the 1-0 win over New Zealand, but was an unused substitute as England beat Costa Rica 3-0 in the last pre-season match. Now the dream is over before it has begun.
Tuchel is reportedly set to bring in Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah as a replacement for the Newcastle full-back – a dramatic change so close to kick-off.
Livramento has six A-caps for England since his debut two years ago, but the injury throws the camp into chaos. He was already limited to just 26 games for Newcastle in a season marked by several injury breaks, and now he is hit again at the worst time.
The Maguire patient gets another bang
Chalobah, 26, has only one cap for England – in the crushing 3-1 loss to Senegal last year. The fact that he is now preferred over others will be another hard blow for Manchester United star Harry Maguire.
Maguire was bitterly disappointed not to be named in the original World Cup squad. Tuchel instead chose Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Jarell Quansah, Dan Burn and John Stones as his five centre-backs – and Maguire was thus rejected.
The former Leicester player released an emotional statement after the decision, admitting that he was “shocked and devastated”. His family went even further and called the rejection “disgusting” on social media.
Tuchel responded by saying that he was “surprised” by Maguire’s statements, revealing that they “had a private conversation where he was given the opportunity to express his feelings”.
Now it looks like Manchester City veteran John Stones and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa will be the preferred centre-back pair in the Championship – while Maguire is once again being overlooked, this time in favour of a less experienced replacement.
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