Football
Mark Ogden, Senior Writer, ESPN FC 7y

Marcus Rashford: Slovakia error didn't motivate me to score goal

Marcus Rashford has insisted he did not owe England for his early mistake which led to an opposition goal in the 2-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Slovakia, claiming that his second-half winner was merely him doing his job.

The Manchester United forward produced his best performance in an England shirt by helping inspire Gareth Southgate's team to the Group F victory which leaves them within two points of confirming automatic qualification for Russia 2018.

Rashford's early mistake, when he lost possession in a dangerous position to allow Slovakia to score the opener, led to England enduring a difficult opening half hour against their opponents.

But the teenager admits he did not feel as though he had to repay his team for the mistake.

"No," Rashford told reporters when asked about the Slovakia goal. "You want to help the team anyway by scoring or with an assist. It doesn't make a difference.

"It is football and you have your ups and you have your downs. I think the whole team reacted well and it is great that we got a goal back late in the first half.

"The manager said to just stay calm at half-time and try to work on the things we had been working in training over the week and I think that is what we all did and that is where we got the result from it.

"But to score, it is a special moment, and one that I will obviously keep with me for a long time.

"That is why people play football. We want to get the rewards, we want to put smiles on people's faces.

"When you work hard, you get your rewards and that is what it is all about."

The manner of England's victory, having fought to overturn an early deficit to win the game, earned plaudits for Southgate and his players.

England remain some way short of the World Cup favourites in terms of their prospects in Russia, but Rashford believes that, after the low of Euro 2016, the country can look ahead with positivity.

"I won't class Euro 2016 as a good experience because you never want to experience losing a tournament," he said. "I think it was a difficult one to take, but hopefully next time around, you hope to learn from it we and do better.

"Hopefully we can be together for years and years and what we're doing now is just the start of everything.

"We could be talking about much greater things in the future. For the players and obviously for the fans as well, that's what we all want.

"Everybody wants results, so it is difficult to please everyone.

"If we get a result and we didn't play well, somebody has bad things to say. But if we play well but don't get a result, there are other bad things to say.

"You have to get the right balance, but we're young and provided we all stay together, we will work on relationships off the pitch to make us better on the pitch.

"There are a lot of things going on in the background that hopefully can bring the best out of all of us."

Rashford's England teammate Eric Dier spoke in glowing terms of the forward, but said he still has plenty of work to do to achieve his potential.

"He's got fantastic potential like a lot of young English players," Dier said. "But I'm going to be the last person to big them up to let someone else knock them down.

"He's a very talented young boy, but he's got a long way to go and I'm sure he knows that. I'm sure he will keep his head down, keep working hard and hopefully he can fulfil that potential.

"I don't think you need to say anything. Marcus is smart enough. He is a great lad, very level-headed. It was a great show of character from him, to come back after that [mistake] and get an assist and a goal."

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