Marcus Rashford says he is fully committed to England and does not care if onlookers criticise or question his dedication to the national team.
The 25-year-old is preparing for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia having withdrawn from March’s meet-up through injury.
Rashford has had to pull out of numerous camps over the years but his decision to head to New York while England were winning their Group C opener 2-1 in Italy sparked debate.
Boss Gareth Southgate defended the 51-cap forward’s decision to jet off to the United States at the time and the Manchester United forward says he was unmoved by critical voices.
“I didn’t see it, to be honest with you,” Rashford said. “I didn’t see it until I got home.
“I need time to switch off and recover, so I took a short trip, four days, then went back to do rehab and just try and get ready as soon as possible.
“With injuries, you can’t predict when they’re going to happen.
“Thankfully I have very few muscle strains and them type of injuries, but occasionally you do get impact injuries. The majority of my injuries have been that.”
Asked if people questioning his commitment to playing for his country hurt, Rashford replied: “Honestly, it doesn’t.
“I know that I’m committed to it 100 per cent, people are going to say what they’re going to say. It doesn’t really bother me.”
Rashford laughed off that talk as he prepares to play in his first qualifier since England won 4-0 away to Kosovo in November 2019 – the last international before the schedule paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He will surely get minutes in Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier at Malta, but the availability of England’s Manchester City quintet is unclear.
Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips arrived at St George’s Park on Tuesday after days celebrating their treble triumph.
Saturday’s Champions League win over Inter Milan saw City join Manchester United as the only English sides to win the Premier League, FA Cup and European Cup – a bruising moment for the red half of the city.
“To be honest, it’s not nice (to see City’s success) but at the same time it’s football,” United product Rashford said.
“The best team that’s consistently playing the best football is going to win the most trophies and they’ve managed to win three this year.
“Well done to them and we just move on now and it’s up to them to keep it up, and it’s up to the rest of us to try and catch them up.”
Asked if City’s achievements provide extra motivation, United’s homegrown star said: “Yeah, 100 per cent.”
Rashford’s attention now is squarely on international matters as a mammoth, unrelenting campaign finally comes to a conclusion.
He has made an eye-watering 61 appearances for club and country in an unprecedented campaign that had the World Cup in Qatar wedged in the middle.
That figure could reach 63 if he plays against Malta and at Old Trafford against North Macedonia on Monday – a qualifier that is just 23 days before United’s first pre-season match.
Rashford, when asked about the need for the calendar to be looked at, said: “I think that’s evident.
“It’s mad that at club level we’re playing against teams that are playing one game a week, and we’re playing three games a week from November up until we got knocked out of Europa League.
“It’s difficult but at the same time we’re used to doing it, but I don’t think it’s right.”
Rashford does not know what he would like to see altered but said he is “not the one that’s supposed to have the answers”.
“The players are going to push ourselves to the absolute limits,” he added.
“I did say it’s nothing new so it’s not a complaint or a dig, I’m just giving you my honest opinion and I don’t think it’s correct.
“We need to be given more time to recover between certain games and at different stages of the season.
“That’s my opinion but I don’t think it’s down to the players. We shouldn’t have to put ourselves in a position to speak out about something that we’re not in control of or we’re not going to make the final decision on.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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