England center back Harry Maguire has claimed that his team must win the Euro 2024 title. If not, the defender will look at it as a failure. England is currently the third-highest-ranked European club by FIFA.
The 30-year-old polarizing figure made the comments in a recent interview with The Athletic.
“I believe we have the players to win it,” declared Maguire. “I’m with a mindset of, ‘if we don’t win the tournament, it’s been a failure.’ I’ve been at three major tournaments now and I’ve come so close.”
Maguire has been key to Southgate’s defense
Despite being utilized sparingly under Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, Maguire is a mainstay in England’s defense.
Three Lions head coach Gareth Southgate is huge fan of the center back. In fact, Maguire has played in each of England’s last 13 total matches.
The last time he did not play during an England game was a matchup with Switzerland a year ago.
“Obviously, we’ve got to qualify first from a tough group, we’ve come to Italy and got an amazing result,” Maguire continued.
“We’re in a good place. But these big tournaments are decided on the finest margins. I think we played really well in the World Cup and ultimately, we got knocked out by a good French team. So it’s something that we’re working on. We have so much talent and so many young players coming through.”
England beat Italy on Thursday to open their Euro 2024 qualification process. Maguire and company will next face Ukraine at Wembley on Sunday.
New manager has overlooked Maguire at United
Maguire also discussed his somewhat difficult time with Manchester United in the interview. Ten Hag has regularly chosen Lisandro Martinez and Rafael Varane as his center back partnership. This has obviously left Maguire to the bench in many matches. The England international has only started five Premier League games during the current campaign.
“I’m nearly 30 but I shouldn’t need to prove myself at this level,” the defender stated. “I’ve made over 50 caps and I’m England’s top-scoring defender. I’ve played nearly 200 times for Manchester United. I’ve captained the club for three years but I also understand that when you are the captain of Manchester United you come under the most scrutiny.”
Photo credit: IMAGO / Uk Sports Pics Ltd
