England head coach Gareth Southgate applauded Marcus Rashford's impressive showing in the team's 3-0 win over Wales where the forward managed to score a brace on Wednesday.
The head coach expressed happiness over the forward's performance while crediting his success to the training Rashford undertook for it and also rued the striker's chance to get a hat trick in the game.
"It's great for Marcus Rashford, he has trained really well. I have to say, he's really been impressive since he came back in with us. He could have had a hat trick, couldn't he? And the free kick is what he's capable of, it's an incredible strike really," expressed Southgate, quoted ESPN as reported by BBC.
Southgate talked about his change of strategy at halftime which worked wonders for the team and yielded three goals to secure a win.
"In moments I thought both Foden and Rash were quiet in the first half, we decided to switch wings, and I thought that might allow them to go on the outside and also the chance to come in and they responded really well, so for both to get the goals is great," said the England boss.
The former England player shared his thoughts on the team's overall performance and applauded them for maintaining discipline and quality right till the end to secure a win.
"I thought in the first half we really controlled the game, but we didn't create many clear-cut chances. So we wanted a little bit more thrust and threat in the final third and to play forward a bit quicker. In the second half, once we got the two goals, we knew their spirit had probably gone, it's been a tough tournament for them. I thought we kept our discipline and quality right to the end," mentioned the head coach.
Marcus Rashford scored a brace to guide England to a thumping 3-0 victory over Wales at the Al-Rayyan Stadium in a Group B clash on Wednesday.
Wales' first-ever World Cup campaign in 64 years ended with a defeat as England are set to face Senegal in the round of 16 encounters.
England came out all guns blazing in the second half and found the back of the net through Manchester United star Rashford in the 50th minute of tyhe game. The forward delivered a perfect freekick as he managed to get past the Wales goalkeeper with the perfect trajectory on the ball.
Foden dealt another blow in the 52nd minute as he tapped the ball into the goal after receiving a beautiful cross from England captain Harry Kane.
Rashford displayed his superb football skills in the 68th minute as he went past a group of Welish defenders to score his second goal of the match, piling on the agony for Wales.
The English team hardly dropped a beat after the third goal as they went on to clinch the game, knocking Wales out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor